Pope Francis on Wednesday issued a scathing critique of capitalism on a trip to Mexico’s border with the United States, saying that God will hold accountable “slave drivers” who exploit workers.
In a speech to business leaders and labor representatives, Latin America’s first pope assailed the “prevailing mentality (that) advocates for the greatest possible profits, immediately and at any cost.”
On the last day of a six-day visit to Mexico, the Argentine pontiff decried “the exploitation of employees as if they were objects to be used and discarded,” saying the best investment business can make to help society is in people and families.
“God will hold the slave drivers of our days accountable,” he said. The pope has in the past called money “the dung of the devil” and has decried what he calls the “evils” of unbridled capitalism, prompting criticism from U.S. business leaders.
Francis was to celebrate Mass later in the day only yards from the U.S. border where he was expected to strongly defend the rights of immigrants to the United States.
He has visited some of the most marginalized areas of Mexico, urging young people in the violence-ridden state of Morelia to avoid drug trafficking and taking a swipe at the country’s rich and corrupt.
A major manufacturing center, Ciudad Juarez has been badly hit by drug violence in recent years. It also an important crossing for Mexicans, Central Americans and Asians trying to reach the United States illegally.
Francis’ focus on the plight of migrants who risk murder, rape and extortion on they head north, is at odds with the anti-immigrant rhetoric of candidates for the 2016 Republican U.S. presidential nomination.
Billionaire Donald Trump has surged ahead of his rivals with his message that Mexico is “killing” the United States with cheap labor, while sending over criminals and rapists. He has also promised to built a huge border wall.
Trump last week dubbed the pope “a very political person”, saying he believed the Mexican government had put him up to the border visit.
“To suggest that the pope is an instrument of the Mexican government, no. That is very strange indeed,” said Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, shortly before the pontiff arrived in Ciudad Juarez.
“The pope always speaks of the problems of immigration. If Mr. Trump were to come to Europe he would see that the pope has said the same things about immigration to the Italians, the Germans, the French and the Hungarians.”
Later Wednesday, the pope will be driven to the fence that separates Mexico from the United States, and will celebrate Mass just 80 yards from the crossing.
His arrival comes as the number of Central American children and families apprehended at the border rises, in a spike reminiscent of a 2014 flood of migrants that created a major political headache for U.S. President Barack Obama.
Immigration reform remains one of the most divisive issues in U.S. politics, and a key theme in the 2016 presidential vote.
— Reuters