López Obrador accused of militarizing Mexico with new security decree
Human rights groups in Mexico have expressed disquiet over a presidential decree expanding the role of the armed forces in public security – a reflection of the country’s worsening violence and the failure to properly prepare and equip a police force able to take on powerful criminal organisations.
The decree, published on Monday by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, demonstrates an ongoing dependency on the army and navy for public security work – even though soldiers and marines have been frequently accused of human rights violations.
“In effect, the army and navy are going to be handling police duties until 2024,” said Santiago Aguirre, director of the Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez Human Rights Centre in Mexico City. “[Both] have a long history of not being accountable, especially in cases of serious human rights violations.”
The decree perpetuates the practice of deploying Mexico’s armed forces for policing duties as the country’s homicide rate races to new records. Mexico recorded its most murderous month on record in March – a grim tally nearly matched in April, in spite of Covid-19 quarantines throughout the country.
López Obrador swept to victory in the 2018 election, promising “hugs, not bullets” and pledging to shift the focus of his security strategy to tackle what he considers the root causes of crime: poverty and violence.
But Amlo, as the president is known, effectively abandoned the federal police after taking power and created a new militarised police force, known as the national guard, comprising soldiers and some former federal police.
The new force has sputtered since starting operations in mid-2019 – with its first deployment to the southern and northern borders to stop migrants. Amlo, meanwhile, has increasingly depended on the armed forces, using soldiers for everything from delivering gasoline to building a new airport near Mexico City.
“[His] dependence on the armed forces is growing, and steps to get them off the streets by 2024 are not being taken,” said Falko Ernst, senior Mexico analyst at the International Crisis Group.
Supporters of the president rejected talk of militarising the country and say the laws creating the national guard always left open the option that the armed forces could be called upon for up to five years.
“You cannot train people fast enough at the national guard academy and the (state) governors are still unwilling to develop their own state police forces,” said Rodolfo Soriano Núñez, a sociologist in Mexico City.
“It is a response to a double issue: the national guard is not really achieving its goals and the crime numbers are again off the charts despite the pandemic.”