Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Mexico’s president, has banished any criticism of the Armed Forces of their speech, from their crushing electoral victory in July. And more from that was to ever swear the charge this Saturday. Winner in the polls, anointed in the Congress, the new president raises up the armies, dedicating them great praise. On Saturday, as he addressed his followers for the first time as commander-in-chief, said: “The Armed Forces are among the best institutions in Mexico (…) it Is a revolutionary Army, emerged from the village and that it has experienced few breaks in its unity and discipline”.
With that mood has come to the president this Sunday at Campo Marte in Mexico City, in the traditional ceremony of greeting to the troops. It has been his first event as head of the Army, although not the first in which he wore that outfit. This same week, in one of the many breaks script, López Obrador arengó thousands of soldiers, corporals, sergeants and officers in the main installation military of the capital: “I Am sure that I will have the support of you, because they know that we have the problem of insecurity and violence as never before.”
In the event of this Sunday, the president said: “I have trusted also in the Armed Forces because they have acted responsibly and have not been mixed, meddled in business that is done in the shadow of power”.
All are praises now, but it was not always so. With greater or lesser subtlety, the chief Executive had criticized the actions of marines and soldiers. Year and a half ago, for example, after an operation of the Navy in Nayarit that ended with 12 dead civilians -shooting from a helicopter using-, López Obrador showed a harsh. “Is has committed a massacre”, was launched.
A month later, during a trip to Veracruz, he noted that the Army should not be used in tasks Superbahis of public security: “I respect much of the Armed Forces, nothing more that we are not going to use the Army to confront the insecurity and violence”. The difference between then and now, to defend the president and his team, is no. As the fault reaches to the top and not the troops, they follow orders. That is to say, that if you committed crimes it was the fault of the controls, and now that he will be in control, it will not happen again.
Lopez Obrador hopes to create a new military corps, the National Guard, to end up precisely with the insecurity and the violence. The year will conclude in Mexico with the may number of murders since we will have records. Until October, the authorities counted to 28,000.
Brown, his party, should promote a reform of the Constitution to this end. As it requires a qualified majority in the Congress in addition to other procedures, the reform it will still take a few months, but everything indicates that in march or April, the National Guard might already be working.
Since 2006, when Felipe Calderón assumed the presidency, the Army and the Navy have been tasked to ensure security in the country. In some states replaced to the police. Due to the amount of complaints for violations of human rights committed by military personnel these years, many hoped that the new president would strengthen the Federal Police and state and municipal agencies, to give back to the troops to the barracks. On the contrary. The success or failure of the National Guard will depend on a large part of the mandate.
