MEXICO CITY, March 1, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Mexican lawmakers on Thursday
overwhelmingly approved a bill to set up a 50,000-strong National Guard force
to combat the country’s drug cartels.
The move, proposed by leftist President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, has
led to criticism that it will further militarize Mexico’s fight against armed
gangs.
The bill was approved in a 463 -1 vote in the lower house Chamber of
Deputies following unanimous approval by the Senate last week.
It now needs ratification by half of the country’s 32 state legislatures,
most of which are controlled by the president’s Morena party.
The force is a part of a new strategy promised by Lopez Obrador to combat
a rampant escalation of violence.
In a concession to critics, Lopez Obrador has agreed to put the new force
under civilian command, but opponents say that will do little to curb
militarization.
More than 200,000 people have been murdered in Mexico since 2006, when the
government controversially deployed the army to fight drug trafficking.
Mexico registered 33,341 homicides last year, the most since national
record-keeping began in 1997, according to government figures.