In his latest package of proposals to reform the Constitution, the president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, returned to the fray with his idea of handing over public security to the Armed Forces, a project that was hatched from the beginning of his six-year term and that has been advancing little by little in Congress, regardless of criticism for the supposed risks involved in removing the military from the barracks to prevent, investigate and combat crimes.
The militarization of public security in Mexico returned to the center of the debate with the initiative sent to the Legislature by the president Andrés Manuel López Obradorwhere he states that the National Guard (GN), a civilian corporation that was created in 2020 to reinforce public security, is controlled by the Army.
Among the 20 constitutional reforms and secondary laws that the president presented towards the end of his six-year term, it includes a series of changes to give him the power to send the more than 400,000 members of the Armed Forces to reinforce the fight against crime.
AMLO proposed that judges, magistrates and ministers be elected by the people, on the other hand the National Guard will be part of Sedena, and he also asked that no public servant earn more than the president.
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This is not the first time that López Obrador has tried to hand over public security to the Army. In April of last year, The Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation rejected four laws promoted by the president and approved with the support of the ruling Morena party in Congress, with which all administrative, financial and operational control of the National Guard would become part of the Secretariat of National Defense (Sedena), the institution that regulates the Armed Forces. in Mexico.
The Court's decision was based on the fact that The Constitution itself establishes that the GN must have a civilian commandthat is why the proposed reform seeks to modify 12 articles to transfer all the components of the GN to the Sedena.
However, organizations, such as Mexico United Against Crimepoint out that the current proposal would further increase the political and economic power of the Sedenasince its strength would increase by 40%, while its budget would exceed 400,000 million pesos (more than 23,000 million dollars) in 2024.
The Armed Forces on the streets, the objective of the reform
The constitutional changes sought by the reform of the National Guard have different objectives. One of them is that the president has the power to send the more than 266,000 members of the Army and the Navy, reinforced by the more than 100,000 members of the National Guard, to carry out security tasks.
Currently, there is a prohibition for the military to perform functions beyond military discipline, which would be eliminated to allow them to fully participate in public security by presidential initiative.
Another change proposes giving the members of the GN the rank of permanent armed forces to support the Army in functions such as the internal and external security of the country, as determined by Sedena itself. All this, with the justification of aligning the members of the Guard in disciplinary terms and thus making them subject to military jurisdiction.
Regarding the command of the GN, The Secretary of National Defense, Luis Cresencio Sandoval, explained that it must be an active division general who comes out of the same Guard, but as long as it does not exist, “one can be appointed from the Army, waiting for the moment when the personnel who already have that specialty, who have been specifically prepared in public security, can reach this rank and take responsibility. ”.
However, Lilian Chapa Koloffonresearcher in World Justice Project Mexico and expert in public security policies, spoke with France 24 about the risk that exists in handing over public security to the military, despite the fact that it has not shown a willingness to make its work transparent throughout history, as now with the public works that have been entrusted to it.
“(The Army) is a very closed sector and has refused to be held accountable, as in the persecution of political dissidents, in the past and present. They have carried out actions that do not obey any democratic control, such as espionage on social activists through illegal software (…)It is very delicate to entrust the police function to an institution that does not submit to democratic security principles.”, comments the specialist.
Criticism of the reform points to militarization
Among the main criticisms and concerns that the reform of the National Guard has raised are the risk of completely militarizing the public security system, with the risks that it entails such as possible violations of human rights, and the excessive use of force. by members of the Armed Forces, due to their lack of preparation.
In an interview for France 24, the doctor in political sciences Carlos A. Pérez Ricart considers that the reform proposed by López Obrador “militarizes security from everywhere you want to see”, which will bring positive and negative consequences.
“I am convinced that we need the Armed Forces to recover some public security, but not like this. It has to be done in a structured and balanced way, with mechanisms that invite balance, and this reform does not do that. It seems more like a presidential decision than a well-thought-out state policy,” says the professor at the Center for Economic Research and Teaching (CIDE).
The accusations against the reform also suggest that the militarization of the civil government would be consummated, due to the large presence of the Army in tasks outside the military order. Currently, they are the ones who monopolize the concessions for public works such as the Maya Train or the Felipe Ángeles International Airport, but they also manage the government airline (Mexicana de Aviación), all due to decisions of the current Administration.
While, The president defends his reform to militarize public security, arguing that insecurity is out of control and the support of the Army is necessary, which is why he asked the Upper House to approve the reform as soon as possible.
“It has cost us a lot to establish the National Guard, which did not exist, there are 133,000 elements, nearly 600 barracks, it is to protect Mexicans. So much so that, with the excuse of our adversaries, the conservatives, authoritarians, repressors, that We are militarizing the country, rejecting the National Guard's dependence on the Ministry of Defense,” López Obrador said at a conference on November 20.
Doubts about the fight against crime and the care of human rights
Another of the doubts that the interference of the Armed Forces in public security tasks raises among specialists is their ability to investigate and prevent federal crimes since they do not have that experience, in addition to the fact that it can open the door to possible abuses against human rights. and excessive use of force given the Army's repressive history.
“In Mexico we must aspire to institutions governed by democratic principles in a context of high crime. One might think that the military can deal with drug trafficking issues, but the truth is that they have not done so in crime investigation functions because they do not have that experience,” says Chapa Koloffon.
For his part, Pérez Ricart recalls that the Army has systematically violated human rights in the history of Mexico, as occurred in the so-called Dirty War, a period between the 1960s and 1970s where guerrillas and opponents of the Institutional Revolutionary Party regime ( PRI) were persecuted and disappeared.
“There is no way to think that this will be less serious than it may be. You have to look at the history of Latin America a little to know the risks of giving power to the military sector,” says the CIDE specialist.
Meanwhile, the reform is already in the hands of the Lower House for analysis and debate. Its possible approval or rejection will depend greatly on how Congress is formed after the general elections on June 2, where the ruling Morena party and its allies could negotiate or not with the opposition parties. What is a fact is that, if approved, the next Government will be left with little room for maneuver to return the civilian character to the National Guard and public security.
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