The Mexican Senate approved this Tuesday the entry into the national territory of 11 agents of the United States Army with weapons and ammunition to train the armed forces of Mexico.
With 79 votes in favor, 10 against and one abstention, the legislators endorsed the ruling that allows US military personnel to enter the country, at the request of the president. Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
According to the permit, the soldiers will remain in Mexico for around two months, from April 8 to May 27, in order to train Mexican troops at the facilities of the National Training Center of Santa Gertrudis, in the northern state of Chihuahua.
According to the Upper House in a statement, the training activity called “Joint Combined Exercise Training” seeks to “improve the capacity for planning and executing special operations, skills necessary for the correct performance of the Mexican Army in its tasks.”
In addition, he indicated that “the United States Army delegation will enter with its own weapons, ammunition, material and specialized equipment to carry out the activity.”
In this regard, Senator Emilio Álvarez Icaza Longoria, who voted against, criticized that the elements enter the country carrying weapons, which is prohibited in the Constitution.
“Doesn't this seem like a transfer of sovereignty to you?” questioned the legislator from the Senate Plural Group.
For his part, Senator Damián Zepeda, of the National Action Party (PAN), who was in favor of the ruling, considered it “an excess” to not allow international cooperation so that elements can share best practices.
“I don't see how national sovereignty can be put at risk because 11 specialized elements of a foreign Army come to give training courses to the Mexican Army,” he declared.
While Senator Laura Iraís Ballesteros Mancilla, from Movimiento Ciudadano (MC), who was against the authorization, indicated that the participation of military personnel in public administration in Mexico has experienced an increase since 2007, and suggested that training should focus on training police officers on public safety issues.
The ruling was approved a day earlier in the National Defense Commission of the Upper House, chaired by Senator Félix Salgado Macedonio, who pointed out that in addition to training and training the Mexican armed forces, this exercise will allow “strengthening the bilateral relationship” with USA
Last December, the Upper House also authorized the arrival of the same number of American elements that remained in the country for two months, from January to March, to carry out similar military training activities in the State of Mexico, in the center of the country.
#Mexico #authorize #entry #military #personnel #weapons
