The new federal government on Tuesday presented its national security strategy, based on four key pillars including the consolidation of the National Guard and the strengthening of intelligence gathering.
Security Minister Omar García Harfuch told President Claudia Sheinbaum’s morning press conference that “under the leadership of the president of Mexico, … we’ve designed a national security strategy based on four core tenets.”
The four “ejes” — axes or core tenets — of the strategy designed to reduce crime in a country with major security problems are:
- Attention to the root causes of crime.
- Consolidation of the National Guard.
- Strengthening of intelligence and investigation practices.
- “Absolute” coordination within the federal government’s security cabinet, and with state authorities.
“The first axis is attention to the causes,” said García, who served as security minister in Mexico City between 2019 and 2023 while Sheinbaum was mayor of the capital.
“We will continue with the strategy that began during the government of president Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the strategy of attending to the most vulnerable families as a priority, reducing poverty, closing gaps, [combating] inequality and creating opportunities so that young people have access to a better quality of life,” he said.
“This will allow us to move away from crime and the recruitment [of young people] by crime groups,” García said.
One program launched by the previous federal government that seeks to provide work opportunities for young Mexicans and steer them away from a life of crime is the “Youths Building the Future” apprenticeship scheme.
The provision of social and welfare programs is the central aspect of the first part of the so-called “hugs, not bullets” security strategy pursued by the López Obrador administration.
The second part of the strategy’s nickname is a reference to the desire to avoid violent confrontations with crime groups wherever possible.
García said that “the consolidation of the National Guard, within the National Defense Ministry [Sedena], is extremely important.”
The National Guard, a 133,000-member force created during López Obrador’s six-year term, was placed under the control of Sedena last week after both houses of Congress approved a constitutional bill last month aimed at reestablishing military control of the agency.
While highlighting the importance of strengthening the security force, García acknowledged the precarious security situations that prevail in “some communities in our country” as well as the immense “firepower” of organized crime groups.
“We absolutely need a force like the National Guard to provide support … to hundreds of thousands of families in Mexico,” he said, adding that the security force will also support the country’s investigators and intelligence agents.
Although the National Guard is now under army control, García stressed that it is a “police institution,” albeit one with a “military doctrine” and “military discipline.”
“… There are families that today don’t have access to trustworthy municipal police or state police that are completely equipped [to do their job]. That’s where the National Guard will play an important role,” he said.
García rejected claims that putting the National Guard under the control of the army amounted to increased militarization of public security in Mexico.
“It’s false that there is militarization. What we’re doing is taking advantage of the capacities of the National Defense Ministry,” he said.
With regard to “the third axis — the strengthening of intelligence and investigation — the security minister said that the aim is to not just “react” to crimes but to “anticipate” them as well.
The government will use “intelligence” and “the most advanced technological resources to analyze data, identify [criminal] patterns and understand the dynamics in the areas with the highest incidences [of crime],” García said.
“That’s how we can develop the most effective strategies to combat criminal organizations,” he said.
To increase intelligence capacities, an intelligence and police investigation division will be created within the federal Security Ministry, García said.
The division will be supported by forensic experts including analysts, field researchers and intelligence agents, he said.
Speaking about “the fourth axis” — coordination between authorities — García said that insecurity is a problem that is a “shared responsibility” and which requires a “unified response.”
“That’s why we’re going to have absolute coordination between the institutions of the security cabinet,” he said, referring to the president’s office, the Security Ministry, the Interior Ministry, the army and the navy.
García also said that the federal government will coordinate closely with state authorities “when necessary.”
3 objectives for the construction of ‘lasting peace’
The security minister said that the government has also “established three main objectives for the construction of lasting peace in the country.”
![Speaking of her administration's security strategy, Sheinbaum emphasized "prevention, intelligence and presence [of security forces]."](https://mexiconewsdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/WhatsApp_Image_2024-10-08_at_9.57.09_AM.jpeg)
- The reduction of the crime rate, “particularly homicides and high-impact crimes such as extortion.”
- The neutralization of “generators of violence and criminal networks, with attention to areas of high criminal incidence.”
- The strengthening of “prevention capacities and social proximity of local police.”
To achieve the objectives, “different lines of action” have been developed, García said.
Among them: the strengthening of the national intelligence system and the strengthening of the Executive Secretariat of the National Public Security System.
García also said there will be a “comprehensive” focus on combating high-impact crimes that starts with law enforcement authorities and is continued by prosecutor’s offices, the country’s courts and the prison system.
In addition, he said that a specific “strategy of intervention” has been developed to combat high-impact crimes in the states of Guanajuato, Baja California, Chihuahua, Guerrero, Jalisco and Sinaloa, all of which have significant security problems.
“From the security cabinet of the government of Mexico, we’re going to work with all the federal entities because we’re convinced that to achieve lasting peace in the country, we must accept that security is a shared responsibility,” García stressed.
“I’ll take the opportunity to give special thanks to the federal attorney general Dr. Alejandro Gertz Manero, for his resolute collaboration … and for providing the operational and investigative capacities of the Attorney General’s Office for the success of this strategy,” he said.
Sheinbaum: the ‘war against narcos’ won’t return
One week after she was sworn in, President Sheinbaum reiterated that her government won’t pursue the kind of militarized “war” against drug cartels that former president Felipe Calderón launched shortly after he took office in December 2006.
“The first thing, which is very important, is that Calderón’s war against narcos won’t return,” said Sheinbaum, who nevertheless will continue to use the military for public security tasks.
Homicide numbers increased significantly during Calderón’s government before continuing to rise during the 2012-18 term of Enrique Peña Nieto. Murders increased even more in the first half of López Obrador’s presidency, before declining somewhat in the second half of his six-year term.
Seeking to further differentiate her government from that of Calderón, Sheinbaum declared that “we’re not looking [to carry out] extrajudicial executions.”
“What are we going to use [to combat crime]? Prevention, intelligence and presence [of security forces],” she said.
The new president has not had a good start to her presidency in terms of security. The Mexican army killed six migrants in Chiapas just hours after she was sworn in, apparently mistaking them for criminals, while the mayor of Chilpancingo was beheaded on Sunday.
A fierce battle between rival factions of the Sinaloa Cartel continues to rage in Culiacán and other parts of Sinaloa, while 12 bodies were found on the streets of Salamanca, Guanajuato, last Thursday.
On Tuesday morning, Sheinbaum acknowledged that Guanajuato is easily the most violent state in Mexico in terms of total homicides.
She said that there is also a serious addiction problem in the state, and told reporters that León “is the city with the highest number of poor people.”
“Guanajuato is a state with an average salary below the minimum. Clearly there is a model of development that failed,” she said of a state that has been governed by the conservative National Action Party (PAN) for more than three decades.
During her mayorship, Sheinbaum managed to reduce homicides and other serious crimes significantly in Mexico City.
She, García, other federal officials — and millions of Mexicans fed up with violence and insecurity — will be hoping that the same kind of success can be replicated on a national scale via the implementation of the security strategy outlined on Tuesday morning.
With reports from Milenio, Reforma and El Universal
If the war on cartels (Calderon) and AMLO’s hugs didn’t work what is the solution
The hugs is not a plan, it’s MORENA knowing it’s the only way to keep their candidates alive and trying to come up with some fake policy as their cover story .
Anyone who has won an election in the last 6 years (and was not murdered in office) is working with the cartels or agreeing to leave them alone. This includes the president. (Obviously.)
This is why AMLO moved to make judges electable–for his cartel allies. As soon as they are in elections, they will be owned by the cartels.
As soon as the judges are cartel judges, the tiny bit of semblance of law and order in this country–and that ain’t much–will evaporate.
I used to love Mexico but I’m working on my exit strategy.
“Consolidating the national guard” is so that 100% of the military can be run by an authoritarian executive and so 100% of the military is guaranteed to be corrupted or influenced by the cartels who run most of the country.
“The division will be supported by forensic experts including analysts, field researchers and intelligence agents, he said.” When did those people ever accomplish anything? Who was ever arrested in the murders of the forty students? Who was ever arrested in the murder of the “Butterfly Protector”? In fact, most murders go unsolved. I live in Mexico and love so much of it. I invest here . . . but see that 70% of people live in fear. So sad. Not saying USA is much better at this point.
Currently, There are few CERTIFIED law enforcement personnel. Is there an actual plan to accomplish this? Training Requires money, not promises. The National Guard represents, in most democracies, A POLICE STATE.
Same old song , the way things are going , Mexico will become a narco state , honestly it is already a narco state , but the press is afraid to say that for obvious reasons !!
I see a plan. Crime is going down. Why would judges be owned by the cartels if they are elected by the people. Do the cartels own all Mexicans? I do not think so. Mexico didn’t become Venezuela, the peso is strong, people are more aware and have high expectations. There is a thin line between getting something done and becoming a police state. It takes time, but the plan will work.
I agree Hendrik. Mexico has learned that it takes more than a police state to stop crime. Mexico has a plan to try to get to the root causes of crime; poverty, education, clean fair elections and hope.
To still talk about a president 18 years ago doesn’t say much about this security plan looking strong, sounds political, but oh well.
There are places in Mexico one can live quite well, but hope this new government betters things everywhere.
I see a plan too, but it sounds very much like more of the failed anti-cartel policies of the recent past. What we never seem to see or hear about are the actual negative economic influences of all combined Mexican cartel activities upon the Mexican economy. I suspect it’s a staggering number that serves to empower the cartels with ever-greater influence, control & momentum. The cartels have no need to “own the Mexican people” if they can effectively influence who runs for office and/or gets elected……..or even who remains alive to serve. Regarding potential cartel or other prosecutions, as I understand it, judges will now be elected by the people, but only from a pool of candidates selected by the government in power. Does that really constitute the free & fair election of Mexican judges? The current stacking of the SCOTUS is an example of what can result.
Just a note last week will coming down Baja with a friend it was the first time I saw the national guard with satellite internet from starlings.
That is the biggest mistake Sheinbaum has made. This change opens the door for the Cartel to elect “all the Judges” and take total control of the government. This change completely ruins the entire country, The Cartels will now govern the people. The killing of the new elected mayor and cutting off his head, is a first sign of the bad things to come. Forget the “Hugs and Bullets” because The Cartels will now have the power and the authority to “own” all of Mexico’s “famous tourist resorts as well.
When the government investigates how a cartel leader’s rights were violated by being taken outside of the country by another cartel leader, against his will, more than worrying about it’s citizens disappearing and politicians being murdered, is all one needs to know to understand where the government’s loyalty lies. AMLO, and now Sheinbaum’s, essentially do nothing approach allows them to cater to the poor, buying their loyalty will keep them in power, while the cartels are free to do as they please. Handing the judiciary to the cartels as well as placing the NG under government control, ensures they follow policy and don’t cause a threat to the cartels. One big warm & fuzzy group hug. A couple dozen armed military drones and 10 -12 weeks, and the cartels could be reduced to nothing. There is help if the Mexican government really wanted to make a positive impact on the country.
Until 2 months ago Trump had the election locked down. He may be an ignorant POS, but there’s enough ignorant, pissed off, racist, MAGA Americans who are 1 headline away from putting a loose cannon like him in power expecting him to build walls and go to “war” with Mexico like he promised. He’s shown he has no respect for the law or the Constitution. No matter how crazy and impossible it sounds, I wouldn’t call his bluff. He’s proven that his Party will forgive a lot of illegal shit and he’s stacked the SCOTUS so there would be no retribution or being held accountable. Just saying… we’re living in crazy times and if I were Mexico, I wouldn’t write that SOB off. Even when he loses (if there is a God), the Republicans will just put another narcissistic asshole up the next time.
October 17, 2024 At 10:31 am
Don’t worry people, Claudia is going to continue addressing the root causes of crime. That is why crime went down in all areas, from car theft to murder. It takes time for this strategy to work. New schools, universities, increased jobs, increased minimum wages, apprentice jobs and greater access to housing is curbing crime. Animal político, a right wing publication will never report the progress AMLO has made and will also do the same with Claudia. It’s a shame that MND continues to utilize right wing media only. What a shame. If you want to know about what is really going on in Mexico read, La Jornada and/or Contralinea. May I remind you that right wing media is controlled by the oligarchs. The rich and influential interests that are greedy and corrupt. That article talks about how criminals have impunity and are regularly releases. That exactly speaks volumes about the corrupt judicial system where judges release both white collar criminals and narcos. If you have money everyone know you can pay off judges. There are thousands of poor people in jail without even a criminal charge that have been in jail up to 20 years!!! The judicial system had to be dismantled.
The “War on Drugs,” begun in 2009, exported from the US into Mexico, was a failure in both countries. More than a failure, it increased deaths from drugs and guns. As the article says, homicides increased under Calderon and Pena Nieto; if it continued to rise in AMLO’s first 3 years, that’s because you can’t change a regime of collaboration (look at the sentencing of Garcia Luna Calderon’s security chief that just happened) with the cartels at the highest levels of government in a few years. That includes the judiciary which routinely looked the other way. It took 3 years for AMLO to begin to reduce crime, by tackling corruption and ending impunity. Moreover, the vast majority of guns used in homicides are traced to US origins – guns that were supposed to be used to arm the good guys. There were few good guys (including corrupt players within the DEA). The story that it was AMLO who was the “narco-president” is a false reversal of who the narco-presidents really were. Sheinbaum and Harfuch reduced crime by about half in Mexico City. Let’s give them a chance to use their experience and smarts to now combat crime in the whole country.