Constitutional amendment
Mexico decides to militarize internal security

Human rights organizations criticize the growing influence of the military within the country. (Archive image) Photo
© Fernando Llano/AP/dpa
The National Guard fights irregular migration and drug trafficking. The unit is now placed under the control of the armed forces. Human rights activists are concerned: there are repeated accusations against soldiers.
Before the vote in the Senate, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed concerns about the possible effects of the reform. Soldiers have repeatedly been accused of human rights violations in the past. In future, the National Guard will only consist of soldiers with police training. The military will also take over investigations into crimes.
The National Guard was created in 2019 through a constitutional reform as a civilian police unit and replaced the federal police, which was considered extremely corrupt. However, it consisted mostly of soldiers from the start. Last year, the integration of the unit into the military failed due to constitutional concerns. Since September 1, the party of left-wing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who ends his term of office next Monday, has had the required two-thirds majority in Congress, with which the reform has now been implemented.