New security law opens up a broader spectrum of presidential elections and suggests a change in attitude

As the presidential election in Mexico approaches, the political discussion has been stalled in a debate over the approval of a new internal security law. One of the main motives of the law is to provide the Mexican Army and Navy with the legal framework under which they could continue to fight against organized criminal groups.

These criminal organizations have gone from being integrated drug trafficking cartels to more regionally focused criminal groups with broader business lines such as: extortion, kidnapping, theft of hydrocarbons, and drug trafficking at a national level, among others.

As the regional focus of these groups has grown, so has their willingness to exercise control through two main means: corruption of government officials and violence to intimidate the parties that may threaten their actions.

What the internal security law reflects is that there are deeper structural causes underlying the violence in the country and the relative inability of the government to control it. The weakness of Mexico's justice institutions has created a vacuum in which criminal groups can prosper.

A recent study conducted by the Ministry of the Interior of Mexico found that the minimum number of state police in the country should be 235,944. However, Mexico is well below that goal, with only 127,329 duly gifted police officers; a deficit of almost 50 percent.

Therefore, it is not surprising that, according to a survey by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography of Mexico, it is shown that only 56 percent of those who participated trust state police forces.

The same survey found that 93.6 percent of the people who were victims of crimes did not notify the police authorities. This lack of notification is consistent with the finding that, in 49 percent of cases where a victim alerted authorities and an investigation was initiated by a district attorney, "nothing happened (ultimately) ", highlights the report in its conclusion.

The creation of solid criminal justice institutions requires a systematic and long-term effort by the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the Mexican government, both at the federal and local levels. Only through this the perception of the people can be modified, as well as a change in the fight against the criminal groups that in the last year left record figures in homicides, violence; mot to mention the threat to journalists.

This is not a challenge that Mexico should face alone. The United States and Mexico share deep connections, the US has a compelling national interest in organized crime that controls Mexico.

Over the past two decades, the two countries have reached historic agreements to cooperate on security and law enforcement, as exemplified by the Merida Initiative and the 21st Century Border Initiative. Both initiatives involve preparing and equipping Mexico's police and security forces, as well as a more fruitful exchange of information.

The criminal groups in Mexico are of a new race and, distinct from the criminal groups of the past, it is unlikely that they will accept or respect any treatment in a way that ensures the national security of Mexico or the public safety of its people. Previously, the Federal Government proposed its dismantling in exchange for freedom to its members and not judicial processes, a situation that today neither the Government intends to offer, nor the groups accept.

This is a dilemma for Mexico and it is also a problem for the binational relationship with the United States, a relationship that today has only been involved in NAFTA but that involves aspects that are deeper than the commercial one. The threat of organized criminal groups operating from Mexico involves ties in both countries that must weigh the problems that may arise in other bi-national aspects.

Latin American Post | Carlos Eduardo Gómez Avella

Copy edited by Susana Cicchetto