At drug war frontline, pope's envoy says Mexico hushed him

AGUILILLA, Mexico (Reuters) - The Vatican's ambassador to Mexico on Friday said officials three years ago had asked him not to talk about the extreme violence that has swept the country during more than a decade of fighting between drug cartels, so as not to scare away tourists.

The envoy, Franco Coppola, made the comments while visiting the town of Aguililla in Michoacan, a frontline of the drug war that has seen some of the heaviest fighting in Mexico this year, forcing families in surrounding villages to abandon their homes.