Mexico's Supreme Court Upholds Constitutional Change That Allows Military On Police Duties

Mexico will continue to use the armed forces as its police force as the Supreme Court upheld on Tuesday a constitutional change that permitted the military to act as law enforcement until 2028. The court overruled an appeal that argued law enforcement should be undertaken by civilian police rather than soldiers. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador was warned by critics that the constitutional change ignored the separation of powers and would see the militarization of the country.

Associated Press reported that eight of the court’s 11 justices voted in favor of upholding the changes which Congress approved back in October. The revision saw the deployment of soldiers and marines to the streets to assist in fighting crime. At the time, it was thought of as a temporary improvisation that would quell the country’s cartel forces, who in recent years have bolstered their own forces into a military of their own, with armored cars and high-powered weapons.

Just recently, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel used an airplane and drones to attack a police station. Police were able to kill two gang members on board the plane but lost two officers in the fighting. Simultaneously, the cartel used drones to drop handmade explosives on officers, alongside a dozen men in pick-up trucks firing upon the police station. Hours later, cartel members used buses and other vehicles to block several main streets of the town to halt the arrival of the Army and the National Guard. Jalisco State Governor Enrique Alfaro later confirmed the attack and said the cartel tried to terrorize the town and demoralize the police forces.

Legislators voted that civilian police should take over those duties by 2024. The President, however, supports the use of the armed forces as law enforcement indefinitely as he views the military as more honest than the police. Most experts agreed with the notion, as they believe Mexico needs civilian police that is amply paid, better trained and sufficiently equipped. Mexico’s state and municipal police are reputed to be corrupt, poorly trained, and unprofessional.

The President has primarily relied on the military to act as a police force after he eliminated the civilian Federal Police force and created the National Guard, which he now wants to hand over completely to the Defense Department.