This process entails risks such as the Army increasing its weight in government decision-making outside of a war context, weakening the capacities of civil institutions, a detriment to federalism, by favoring military elements over local police, a problem the participation of the military as economic agents, which generate an uneven floor for companies in terms of competitiveness, as well as a gradual politicization of the Armed Forces, among others.
“The delivery of resources and powers to the Armed Forces, together with the constant praise in the official discourse and the unconditional political support, can encourage military bodies to move away from institutional loyalty to the Federal Constitution and towards sympathy and support for the political project of the government in turn”, warns Integralia.
Although since the government of Felipe Calderón operations have been carried out led by the Armed Forces, which increased the number of personnel assigned to the Army and the Navy, elements remained in the streets with Enrique Peña, in whose administration it was proposed that there be 40,000 troops of civil training and militarized training to confront organized crime, with López Obrador he signs up “towards the permanence of the Armed Forces and the consolidation of the militarization of the National Guard and security tasks”.
Currently, more than 70% of the elements of the National Guard belong to the Army and the Navy, and despite the fact that a period of five years was originally given while it developed “its structure, capabilities and territorial implementation”, with the recent legislative proposals, its role in security tasks would be extended until 2028.
“According to information extracted from the PEF 2022, 54% of the members of the GN are assigned to Sedena, 14.2% to Semar and only 32.4% are members recruited by the GN (among which are approximately 12,000 elements transferred from the extinct Federal Police)”, states the report.
