But why no results?
Security experts consider that sending more soldiers to Michoacán to try to pacify it is more of a reactive measure, and not the ultimate solution, so insecurity will not be resolved by launching another Michoacán Joint Operation (with Felipe Calderón), Plan Michoacán (with Enirque Peña Nieto) or Support Plan for Michoacán (with Andrés Manuel López Obrador).
“Michoacán is a state that is a paradigm of the continuous failures of federal interventions for wanting to mitigate, reduce or eliminate cycles of violence and lethality. Michoacán has had the largest number of federal interventions, however, strategies have not been implemented to reduce the rates of violence,” says Maldonado Aranda.
He explains that the deterrence strategy will hardly achieve the dismantling of the criminal networks that have been consolidated for some decades and that have seen in the Michoacán economy a way of obtaining resources through extortion.
“Neither the growing militarization, nor the greater number of police forces, nor the Armed Forces have managed to lessen the confrontations and violence. A deterrence strategy is not enough to dismantle criminal structures that are extremely complex”, adds Maldonado Aranda.
Víctor Hernández considers that in addition to a greater presence of security forces, long-term measures must be implemented such as the strengthening of municipal and state police and the strengthening of the Prosecutor’s Offices so that they investigate and resolve.
“The security policy is subject to electoral logic. A problem such as security should have a different budget logic, transexennial, that its budget cannot be altered, as is done with megaprojects”, he maintains.
