This Tuesday, October 8, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum presented her national security plan, supported by the Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection, Omar García Harfuch. Under the motto of “coordination and consolidation”, the government promises lasting peace through four main axes: attention to the causes, consolidation of the National Guard, strengthening of intelligence and investigation, and coordination between the federal entities and the federation. This approach does not represent a break with the militaristic strategy established in previous administrations but is its continuity under new leadership.
Sheinbaum’s plan includes the continuation of the policy of attention to the social causes of violence, with a special focus on vulnerable families and young people, a line inherited directly from the previous government. Although the importance of attacking the roots of the problem is recognized, reality shows that these policies have not managed to reverse the high rates of crime, addictions and homicides, as observed in states such as Guanajuato, which the president has pointed out as one of the most affected by violence and economic precariousness, without the official discourse offering truly transformative solutions.
He first axiswhich promises attention to the structural causes of violencesuch as poverty and lack of opportunities for young people, seems insufficient in the face of a more complex reality. Despite the discourse of social justice, the bulk of security policy continues to depend on military force, particularly through the National Guard, now attached to the Secretariat of National Defense (SEDENA), thus consolidating a process of militarization that It started in previous governments. This decision is reminiscent of the failed Internal Security Law promoted by Enrique Peña Nieto, although now with the support of a government that presents itself as progressive.
In it second axis of his plan, Sheinbaum is betting on consolidation of the National Guarda corporation created in 2019 that has already been severely criticized for its lack of transparency and its growing connection with the Army. Currently, with more than 130,000 elements, the National Guard has been unable to reduce the levels of violence in the most affected regions, and its full incorporation into the Secretariat of National Defense raises serious questions about respect for human rights and surrender. of accounts. While the administration justifies the need for a militarized force to confront the power of organized crime, the negative impact of militarization on local communities, especially the poorest, remains unaddressed.
By being fully integrated under military command, this force further distances itself from civilian controls and transparency, raising serious concerns about respect for human rights and control of the use of force.
The figure of Omar García Harfuch, current Secretary of Security, cannot go unnoticed. Heir to a dynasty of repressors and involved in accusations for his alleged links to drug trafficking, Harfuch has been a key actor in the militarization of public security since the last administration. Her presence, along with that of Ernestina Godoy, who supported the repression of the feminist movement in Mexico City, suggests that the new Sheinbaum government will maintain a hard line towards social movements and the most vulnerable communities, without effectively addressing the real causes of violence.
In addition to this background, the recent “new historical truth” of the Ayotzinapa case, which seeks to exonerate the Army of its participation in the disappearance of the 43 students in Iguala in 2014, is another indicator of how the State continues to protect the armed forces from be held accountable for their involvement in human rights violations. The events in Ayotzinapa and the role of the 27th Battalion have been widely documented, but the official narrative continues to attempt to disassociate the armed forces from any direct responsibility, generating further distrust in the institutions.
He third axis of Sheinbaum’s strategy, which proposes the strengthening intelligence and researchintroduces the creation of an undersecretary of intelligence within the Ministry of Security. Although this approach suggests an intention to improve the State’s capacity to prevent organized crime, the question remains whether this dependence on technology and surveillance will not end up affecting the civilian population more, especially in a context where security forces have historically been used to repress social movements.
Finally, the fourth axis emphasizes the inter-institutional coordination between the federal government, the states and the Attorney General’s Office of the Republican approach that sounds logical in theory, but that in practice has proven to be insufficient when there is no political will to confront the links between organized crime and sectors of the political class. The complicity of some governors and local authorities with drug trafficking networks continues to be a structural problem that cannot be resolved only with the militarization of the country.
In this context, It is difficult not to see in Sheinbaum’s security plan a continuity of the policies of past administrationswhich, far from reducing the rates of violence, have perpetuated the cycle of repression and militarization in the country. The emphasis on the use of force and coordination with the Army continues to be the predominant response, leaving aside the urgent needs to invest in education, health and employment as long-term strategies to combat violence.
The commitment to “lasting peace” seems like an empty slogan when the same structures that generate violence are not transformed, and the most vulnerable communities—women, youth, indigenous peoples, workers—continue to face a State that, instead of protecting them, uses repression as a solution. Although Sheinbaum’s government presents itself as the progressive option, its security decisions reveal clear continuity with the militarist logic of the past.
Source: www.laizquierdadiario.com
