Deputies generally approve reform of the National Guard

Mexico City. After a long debate that lasted more than 7 and a half hours, the plenary session of the Chamber of Deputies tonight generally approved the reform to the Constitution that returns operational and administrative control of the National Guard (GN) to the Secretariat of National Defense (Sedena), in addition to empowering legislators to create an internal security law that regulates the participation of the military in this area.

The reform was generally approved by 362 votes in favor of Morena and its allies and the opposition added 133 against.

Only five deputies were missing from the session, of these three from Morena: the president of the chamber, Ifigenia Martínez, Magaly Armenta and the former Ayotzinapa normalista Manuel Vázquez Arellano; and the PAN members Amparo Oliva and Julia Jiménez.

The discussion – whose start was delayed until noon, due to the earthquake drill, which took place at 11 in the morning – confronted the positions of Morena and its allies who defend the initiative, considering that it reinforces the capabilities of the GN and its “coordination” with the Army, with those of the opposition, where the argument focused on the party in power deepening the “militarization” of the country, with the risks to human rights that this implies.

At the start of the session, three suspensive motions from MC, PRI and PAN were rejected, which requested the return of the opinion to committees, and the parade of speakers began on the platform. First, six interventions by each of the groups, and then four rounds for and against the project, each one with a list of 12 speakers.

On the side of the majority bloc, it was argued that the attachment of the GN to the Sedena “will allow for a solid and coordinated structure”, necessary to confront the threats of organized crime, but maintaining civil supervision and “avoiding the excesses of the past.” ” incurred by other security corporations, especially the defunct Federal Police.

From their seats and on the tribune, deputies from Morena, PT and PVEM showed banners that read words such as “Capacity”, “Discipline” and “Trust” and in their speeches they highlighted that the GN has better rates of perception of citizen trust , compared to the defunct Federal Police.

In addition, they assured that the initiative would also allow the elements of the GN to have better working conditions and denied that it is a change that “militarizes” public security.

In security, catastrophic results

On the contrary, the opposition deputies warned that the reform will allow the intervention of the armed forces in public security tasks to be permanent – no longer temporary and subsidiary – which prevents the professionalization of the civilian police forces that They should take charge of this area.

Likewise, they criticized that, despite having grown from 28 thousand elements at the time of its creation in 2019, to almost 130 thousand currently, the GN has not managed to contain the violence in Mexico, which has reached “catastrophic” levels. ”.

One of the loudest moments of the debate took place when the PAN member Miguel Ángel Monraz Ibarra took the stand, surrounded by his colleagues who showed banners showing the current president Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the Morenoist national leader Mario Delgado and other party members. icing on the cake, when they demonstrated against the militarization of the country, during the six-year term of Enrique Peña Nieto.

“What do these images remind you of? What were they saying and what were they thinking at that moment? “What a lack of memory, because they don’t remember when their clothes were torn because of the presence of the military in the streets!” Monraz expressed between laughs, a situation that provoked a response from the seats of the majority, with cries of ” out!” and the slogan “it is an honor to be with Obrador!”

From Morena, the position included acid criticism of the “war” against drug trafficking that former President Felipe Calderón undertook and the relationships that he built with organized crime who was his Secretary of Security, Genaro García Luna, for whom yesterday the Prosecutor’s Office of Nueva York asked for a life sentence.

Bruno Blancas (Morena) argued that the right should reconsider its vote. Because, he advanced, “they have just given us the news of the sentence (sic) of a criminal. Felipe Calderón supposedly did not know how his collaborators behaved. Of course I knew it! He is a corrupt García Luna! “They knew it, they know it and they are still in cahoots!”

Already in that tone, representative Josefina Gamboa Torales (PAN) responded: “Of course García Luna knew about Andrés Manuel and that is why he designated him as a narco president! Did I know or didn’t I know?

That statement once again generated an angry response from the left wing of the plenary session, but the PAN member refused to suspend her speech when asked to do so by the vice president of the Board of Directors, the Morenista Sergio Gutiérrez Luna, who later told her that her interruptions were not They were “a matter of ill will” to the speakers and he angrily asked him to “address this presidency with respect on another occasion.”

After 57 deputies participated on the platform, in a series of interventions where the arguments were reiterated by the benches again and again, finally at almost eight at night, the reform was generally approved.

The discussion is expected to last until early Friday morning, due to the fact that 433 reservations were submitted to the ruling, and of these 151 were only from the Labor Party bench. The list is 111 speakers, but the calculation is that as the hours progress, the deputies will begin to give up speaking on the platform.