Photo: Gobierno de México

By KELIN DILLON

Mexican citizens are reportedly becoming increasingly concerned about Mexico’s perceived militarization following President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s (AMLO) unilateral decision to expand the National Guard’s (GN) budget and recently discussed intentions to absorb the group into Mexico’s Secretariat of Defense (Sedena), which would turn the National Guard from civilian command to military control by way of presidential decree.

According to a national survey conducted by daily Mexican newspaper El Financiero, 56 percent of respondents believe that if the GN is absorbed into the Sedena as planned by López Obrador, Mexico’s public security would be militarized, compared to 34 percent who said there would be no such militarization.

The survey went on to ask if the respondents were for or against the militarization of Mexico’s public security, resulting in an even 46 percent split in favor and 46 percent against, with the remaining 8 percent responding as “unknown.”

Likewise, the survey revealed that the majority of citizens – 59 percent – believe that the GN should not move to the Sedena by way of a presidential decree by AMLO, but the the proposal should instead be presented to and voted on by the Mexican Congress.

That being said, the public perception of the GN remains positive overall; the survey showed that 61 percent of respondents view the National Guard positively.

During his daily morning press conference on Wednesday, Aug. 17, AMLO reaffirmed his intentions to absorb the National Guard into the Sedena, revealing he has another 50 billion pesos in budget ready to fund the group.

“We have authorized a budget for the National Guard of 50 billion pesos, because the commitment is to achieve peace and we are making progress in that direction,” said López Obrador at the time.

Meanwhile, it was revealed on Wednesday, Aug. 17 that the National Guard received an additional 19 billion pesos from the Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection (SSPC) in its first year of operations, amounting to more than 103 billion pesos in total during the first three and a half years of the AMLO administration – all while homicides in the country continue to rise.