Edward Murillo
Newspaper La Jornada
Thursday, February 10, 2022, p. 7
The loyalty of the armed forces is institutional and has no more interest than the fulfillment of its duty, affirmed the Undersecretary of National Defense (Sedena), Agustín Radilla Suastegui, during the ceremony for the 109th anniversary of the Loyalty March, headed by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
Cadets from the Heroic Military College, the Heroic Naval Military School and the Air College recalled when, on February 9, 1913, their predecessors from that time escorted President Francisco I. Madero to the National Palace to protect him in the middle of the Tragic Decade. “We assume and accept the great responsibility of emulating and perfecting what they did for the country. Like the cadets who escorted President Madero in 1913, we are aware that the supreme law of the nation establishes the place of the armed forces within the democratic rule of law; therefore, throughout 109 years of institutional life, our norm has been respect and loyalty to the institutions legally constituted by mandate of the people, with no interest beyond the effective and efficient fulfillment of the general missions and assigned tasks for the benefit of Mexico,” said the military official.
Radilla was the only speaker at the ceremony, because the head of Sedena, Luis Cresencio Sandoval González, tested positive for covid-19 last Tuesday and remains in isolation, working from his home.
Before members of the legal and security cabinet, the president of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation and the leaders of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, the undersecretary concluded: we ratify that Mexico has loyal and institutional women and men in its armed forces, we endorse our inalienable commitment to fidelity to the country, respect for the Constitution, the legally constituted powers and human rights
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