[I got the rope]

From the letter:

What pressure are Mexican bishops exerting to make their government more accountable to its people?

Mexican Bishops have not be able to speak out against the government since Emperor Maximillian seized all church property and split the Catholic Church of Mexico away from Rome. Since the Cristero Wars it has been illegal for any Church to speak out against the Mexican government or it's policies. It's in their Constitution.

[Mrs. Don-o]

You wrote: "Mexican Bishops have not be able to speak out against the government since Emperor Maximillian seized all church property and split the Catholic Church of Mexico away from Rome. Since the Cristero Wars it has been illegal for any Church to speak out against the Mexican government or it's policies. It's in their Constitution."

True. Another thing most Americans don't realize about Mexico. I'd guess maybe 1 person in 100 knows about the Cristero war.

[Verginius Rufus]

First time I've ever heard of Emperor Maximilian seizing the property of the Catholic Church during his brief reign. He was a Habsburg and they were generally pretty devout Catholics (his great-nephew Karl was declared a "blessed" by Pope John Paul II). I was under the impression that the periods when the Mexican government was particularly hostile to the church was under Benito Juarez and following the Mexican Revolution in the early 20th century.