Former members of the Light of the World church accuse the Mexican government of covering up crimes. Sochil Martin and Sharim Guzmán, survivors and former members of the religious organization, denounced the closure of the investigation by the Attorney General's Office (FGR) following complaints filed since 2019 for alleged human trafficking, exploitation, and organized crime. They also denounced what they consider an institutional cover-up. Martin explained that the investigation was closed without prior notification to the victims. "I was informed in December that they changed the prosecutor, but I had not been notified," she recounted. She also pointed out that the church leader, Naasón Joaquín García, is still held in high regard in Mexico and that the government protects the organization. "It's a mafia," Martin emphasized, calling on victims to continue reporting crimes. Guzmán, for his part, offered a reconstruction of the legal process initiated in 2019, explaining that the complaint was classified by the FGR itself as a case of organized crime and referred to the then-specialized prosecutor's office. He specified that the case includes serious complaints involving several families, some with victims who were minors at the time of the events. "We are afraid for the families who reported [...] we are concerned about these families who are in Mexico," he stated. Guzmán also alluded to legal processes in the United States related to the church leader, who was sentenced in 2022 to 16 years and 8 months in prison for sexual crimes against minors. He highlighted his concern for the situation of children and adolescents within the organization on both sides of the border. "What worries us the most is the childhood inside Light of the World, it's children, girls, young Mexicans who are in danger every day," he said. Guzmán also affirmed that the current government is closely related to the organization and that it has built a network of political relationships at various government levels. "For the Mexican government, they are not criminals," he concluded.
