The Senate of Mexico approves that the National Guard be under the command of the Army

First modification: 09/09/2022 – 10:46

“With 71 votes in favor, 51 against and one abstention, the opinion that reforms four laws” relating to the National Guard is approved in general, the parliamentary body reported on its Twitter account.

The vote was held in the first minutes of this Friday, September 9, after hours of discussions.

These legal changes were proposed by leftist President Andrés Manuel López Obrador as part of his strategy to combat organized crime and the wave of violence that has hit the country for more than 15 years.

However, human rights defenders and opposition parties have criticized this initiative, which, according to them, would be contrary to the constitution.

Opposition lawmakers are expected to file a dispute with the Mexican Supreme Court.

Morena, López Obrador’s party, got the reform to be voted on in the Chamber of Deputies on September 3 and after its approval in the Senate, the legislative process is concluded and it will be sent to the Executive for its publication and entry into force.

Fear for the possible rebound in human rights violations.

The National Guard was created in 2019, also at the impulse of López Obrador, and although most of its 115,000 elements are from military training, it is now under civilian command and integrated into the Secretary of Security.

Critics of this project accuse the president of seeking to militarize the country and warn of the risk of multiplying abuses of authority and human rights violations.

The ruling party defends its strategy with the argument that the Armed Forces enjoy broad approval among the population and that they are less likely to be infiltrated by organized crime.

Mexico is involved in a spiral of violence linked to organized crime that has left some 340,000 dead since 2006, when a controversial military anti-drug operation was launched.