The Mexican Lower House Approves Militarization of the National Guard
Mexico’s Lower House, 2024. X/ @Stephentwoodman
September 20, 2024 Hour: 9:26 am
The Defense Secretariat will manage the National Guard, which has over 120,000 members.
On Thursday, the Chamber of Deputies approved President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s reform to transfer control of the National Guard to the military.
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With 362 votes in favor and 133 votes against, lawmakers passed a reform that will allow the Secretariat of National Defense (Sedena) to manage the National Guard (GN), which has over 120,000 members and was created by Lopez Obrador in 2019. Previously, however, his bill, which will now move to the Senate for approval, was criticized by the opposition, claiming that the reform would lead to the militarization of all areas of the country.
Among other changes, the reform states that crimes will be investigated by the Public Ministry, the police, and the National Guard, whose personnel will have military backgrounds with police training. They will be attached to Sedena and will execute the National Public Security Strategy.
Maria del Rosario, a deputy from the National Regeneration Movement (Morena), insisted that while the training of National Guard personnel will be military, their duties will remain police-related. “The training and discipline of the armed forces guarantee their integrity, obedience to civil authorities, and loyalty to the Mexican nation and the people of Mexico,” she said.
The Vice President of the Chamber of Deputies, Sergio Gutierrez, defended the reform, stating that it empowers Congress to pass laws to establish requirements and limits for the participation of the Army, Navy, and Air Force in matters of internal security and support for public security tasks.
The Armed Forces’ duties have expanded under Lopez Obrador, who assigned military personnel public security tasks, infrastructure construction projects, management of customs and ports, and leadership roles in state-owned enterprises, such as the Maya Train and Mexicana de Aviacion airline.
In 2023, the Supreme Court declared one of President AMLO’s legal reforms to militarize the National Guard unconstitutional, stating that “public security functions are exclusively under the jurisdiction of civil authorities.” However, as of Sept. 1st, Lopez Obrador’s party alliance and the president-elect Claudia Sheinbaum control more than two-thirds of Congress, the majority necessary to amend the constitution.
teleSUR/ JF Source: EFE
