Mexico's Congress puts the National Guard under military command despite criticism

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s Senate approved early Wednesday putting the National Guard under the command of the military despite widespread criticism over deepening the country's militarization.

It's the second constitutional change in two weeks, giving outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador another victory days before his exit. The Congress passed on Sept. 11 a contentious judicial overhaul he pushed that forces all the country’s judges to stand for election, raising concerns of politicizing the judiciary.

The National Guard was a security force proposed as civilian and run by the Public Safety Ministry.

After debating through the night, the governing Morena party and its allies overcame opposition fueled by concerns from human rights organizations and the United Nations. They denied the change would militarize the country, instead saying the military would help the National Guard become a more effective security force.

The president had tried before to put the National Guard under military command, but it was declared unconstitutional last year by the Supreme Court.

Sen. Luis Donaldo Colosio of the opposition Citizen Movement party said giving the military control of the National Guard rather than making it a real civilian police force normalized the idea that Mexico has to be under military control to achieve peace. “It is not the peace of justice,” he said, adding that it condemned Mexicans to choose between armed conflict or imposed silence.

In 2019, López Obrador disbanded Mexico’s federal police and created the National Guard. While it included some former police officers, military police constituted most of its members, with the command structure made up of recently retired military officers.

Successive governments have leaned heavily on the military as civilian police were outgunned by the country's powerful drug cartels. López Obrador has put his full faith in the military over the last six years, greatly expanding their responsibilities and portfolio not only in the realm of public security, but also in other civilian areas like managing ports and airports.