Mexican National Guard will no longer report to civilian command

The Senate of Mexico approved this Friday a project by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to transfer the National Civil Guard to the command of the Ministry of Defense, a controversial decision that, despite the climate of violence in the country, does not convince many.

Critics and activists say the measure will militarize public security and increase abuses. The National Guard, created by López Obrador in 2019 to replace the corrupt National Police, has been accused of committing acts of torture, murder and excessive use of force.

The president, however, tried to clear up the concerns: “I have not declared war, I have not given orders to the Army to violate human rights, to have massacres,” he said at his morning press conference.

Members of Obrador’s party, the National Regeneration Movement, such as Senator Olga Sánchez Cordero, consider that the measure can be positive: “Let’s give it time to mature and improve coordination, rigorously observing that the police doctrine permeates,” he said. .

On the other hand, Senator Gina Andrea Cruz, of the opposition National Action Party, declared that “society today condemns and demands this bad militarist bet.”

Conflicting opinions are also found on the streets. María Fernanda Méndez, an employee, told the voice of america that “a bad choice on the part of the head, would have to be more careful.”

Federico Fernández, a geographer, said that he believes “that something is being done and whenever something is done, people complain.”

Some analysts expressed concern.

“They do not bring a strategy where the capabilities of the armed forces and now of the National Guard can be used so fully against the organizations and the homicide rates have not gone down and in a certain way in this six-year term it has gone up,” said Ana María Salazar, an expert on security issues.

For now, the opposition is already preparing legal actions to allege the unconstitutionality of the approved changes.

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