Alonso Urrutia and Emir Olivares
Newspaper La Jornada
Thursday, September 15, 2022, p. 4
The reform to the fifth transitory constitutional article that extends the presence of the armed forces in security tasks until 2029 is essential to guarantee peace and extend the period to consolidate the National Guard (GN), said President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who described responsible to the deputies who will have the bliss
to approve and retrograde, factious and corrupt
those who oppose.
The president accused the PAN of assuming hypocritical positions regarding the problem of insecurity and the role of the Army and the Navy; He highlighted that in Tuesday’s homicide report it was reported that in Guanajuato (governed by that party) 18 were perpetrated, equivalent to 25 percent of the total in the entire country.
The PAN legislators do not want the Army and the Navy to be present. It is denying everything as a slogan or accepting that this situation continues, which is undoubtedly created by the complicity of authorities with crime. That hypocrisy is what we should not accept
, he underlined. He went further and saddled the adversaries of his being admirers of fascists, supporters of the strong hand and practitioners of repression, torture, massacres
.
He recognized the fundamental nature of the change to the constitutional transitory in the strategy against violence, since the term agreed upon when the National Guard was created was March 2024. Upon completion, it would mean that the Army and Navy would no longer be able to participate in public security tasks.
.
He contrasted the impact on the number of troops if the military presence in the streets is ratified: currently the National Guard has 115,000 elements, which added to the 400,000 of the other armed forces would mean more than 500,000 elements if their participation in security tasks, because the simulation that existed in the past would not be chosen to allow it.
The Executive made a new defense of the soldiers: times have changed and now we have the challenge of guaranteeing peace within the country. We have an institution that has elements, facilities, schools, discipline and preparation to help; it is not linked to vested interest groups or the oligarchy. Where are the scandals of the corrupt military? The Army is not like others
.
He stressed that military schools and colleges have incorporated careers in public security and courses on respect for human rights. However, he was explicit in acknowledging that even with progress, which is far from the 20,000 troops that the Federal Preventive Police had, more time is required to consolidate the GN, depending on the Ministry of National Defense, so that it does not be repeated that people like García Luna and Palominos, who did not make any career in the military, but in their lives, wanted to be chiefs of police and by political recommendations they came to occupy very important positions, and without principles or ideals, they were spoiled, they could not stand the temptations of power
.
