Genaro Lozano*
Nov. 5, 2019
The President has had the worst two weeks since the start of his administration. On the one hand, the failed operation by the Army in Culiacán unleashed contradictions and speculations that already had repercussions on the credibility of the government. ...and, ...the raving of a retired general unleashed coup theories that changed the narrative in one day.
General Carlos Gaytán is not just any military officer. He became General of a Division, Chief of the General Staff and Undersecretary, a top level official. I don't remember hearing a retired military man with such a trajectory criticize the Supreme Commander of the Army [president] and national politics, not at least since the end of the PRI's control of the presidency in 2000.
Therefore, his speech is very worrisome, because the Army has been accumulating economic power and excessive political influence since 2006. Only the Army has had uninterrupted substantial budget increases for nineteen years. According to the Federation Expenditure Budget, at the beginning of the Fox administration [2000], the Army had 22.7 billion pesos; at the end of its six-year term it had just over 26 billion. With Calderón [2006-2012] the budget climbed from 32.2 billion to 55.6 billion. With Peña Nieto it went from 60.8 billion to 81 billion and López Obrador's first budget exceeds 93.6 billion pesos. That without counting the Navy's budget or that of the Air Force.
Felipe Calderón militarized the public security of the country [initiating the use of the Army and Marines in direct conflict with the drug cartels], disproportionately increased the budget and extended other benefits to the Armed Forces. The influence of the Army in the public life of Mexico has been increasing since then and this is not healthy for any democracy. Vicente Fox arrived in Los Pinos in 2000 with the intention of following in the steps of Latin America and the United States to appoint a secretary of domestic defense, but he backed out.
AMLO'S overwhelming victory at the polls gave him the golden opportunity to do this, but on the contrary, he decided to continue with the militarization of the country, giving the Army the largest budget in its history, the construction of the Santa Lucia airport [turning an Airforce base into a commercial airport] and the formation of the National Guard, which is nothing more than the Army itself.
For all of this, the general speaking of coups sounds like a distraction. The Mexican Army has maintained a historic loyalty to civilian leadership, so the contradictory message of General Gaytán lending itself to coup theories in the end only served to change the conversation.
The three presidential mornings press conferences dedicated to Culiacán were an unprecedented communication exercise, but left many questions unclear and again resulted in an unnecessary and mistaken confrontation of the President with the media [AMLO accused the media of distorting what happened, i.e. that the Army withdrew in the face of cartel forces]. Beyond this, that exercise made clear the military influence on the alleged civilian command. Durazo [Secretary of Public Security and ostensibly overseeing the National Guard] knew nothing of the operation and only created a gap in the credibility of the government. Full responsibility remained with the Army.
...This all leads to still more discussion about civilian-military relations. Since 2006, military influence in public life has been rising. Calderón irresponsibly opened a Pandora's box. The analysis of the Security without War collective is more accurate and current than ever. The militarization of public life continues today and this is a huge risk to the democratic health of Mexico.
Reforma only allows subscribers to access its articles online.
*Genaro Lozano is a political scientist with a doctorate from The New School for Social Research and an undergraduate degree in international relations from the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico (ITAM). He has been a professor at Iberoamerican University since 2007 and at ITAM (2005-2012). He is the co-author of several academic books such as Same Sex Marriage in Latin America: Promise and Resistance, Mexico's Foreign Policy and What is the United States? He is a political analyst at CNN and IMER amd moderator of the program Sin Filter (Unfiltered) program, on Televisa. He was Deputy Director of the Foreign Affairs Latin America Magazine. @genarolozano
Nov. 5, 2019
The President has had the worst two weeks since the start of his administration. On the one hand, the failed operation by the Army in Culiacán unleashed contradictions and speculations that already had repercussions on the credibility of the government. ...and, ...the raving of a retired general unleashed coup theories that changed the narrative in one day.
General Carlos Gaytán is not just any military officer. He became General of a Division, Chief of the General Staff and Undersecretary, a top level official. I don't remember hearing a retired military man with such a trajectory criticize the Supreme Commander of the Army [president] and national politics, not at least since the end of the PRI's control of the presidency in 2000.
Therefore, his speech is very worrisome, because the Army has been accumulating economic power and excessive political influence since 2006. Only the Army has had uninterrupted substantial budget increases for nineteen years. According to the Federation Expenditure Budget, at the beginning of the Fox administration [2000], the Army had 22.7 billion pesos; at the end of its six-year term it had just over 26 billion. With Calderón [2006-2012] the budget climbed from 32.2 billion to 55.6 billion. With Peña Nieto it went from 60.8 billion to 81 billion and López Obrador's first budget exceeds 93.6 billion pesos. That without counting the Navy's budget or that of the Air Force.
Felipe Calderón militarized the public security of the country [initiating the use of the Army and Marines in direct conflict with the drug cartels], disproportionately increased the budget and extended other benefits to the Armed Forces. The influence of the Army in the public life of Mexico has been increasing since then and this is not healthy for any democracy. Vicente Fox arrived in Los Pinos in 2000 with the intention of following in the steps of Latin America and the United States to appoint a secretary of domestic defense, but he backed out.
AMLO'S overwhelming victory at the polls gave him the golden opportunity to do this, but on the contrary, he decided to continue with the militarization of the country, giving the Army the largest budget in its history, the construction of the Santa Lucia airport [turning an Airforce base into a commercial airport] and the formation of the National Guard, which is nothing more than the Army itself.
For all of this, the general speaking of coups sounds like a distraction. The Mexican Army has maintained a historic loyalty to civilian leadership, so the contradictory message of General Gaytán lending itself to coup theories in the end only served to change the conversation.
The three presidential mornings press conferences dedicated to Culiacán were an unprecedented communication exercise, but left many questions unclear and again resulted in an unnecessary and mistaken confrontation of the President with the media [AMLO accused the media of distorting what happened, i.e. that the Army withdrew in the face of cartel forces]. Beyond this, that exercise made clear the military influence on the alleged civilian command. Durazo [Secretary of Public Security and ostensibly overseeing the National Guard] knew nothing of the operation and only created a gap in the credibility of the government. Full responsibility remained with the Army.
...This all leads to still more discussion about civilian-military relations. Since 2006, military influence in public life has been rising. Calderón irresponsibly opened a Pandora's box. The analysis of the Security without War collective is more accurate and current than ever. The militarization of public life continues today and this is a huge risk to the democratic health of Mexico.
Reforma only allows subscribers to access its articles online.
*Genaro Lozano is a political scientist with a doctorate from The New School for Social Research and an undergraduate degree in international relations from the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico (ITAM). He has been a professor at Iberoamerican University since 2007 and at ITAM (2005-2012). He is the co-author of several academic books such as Same Sex Marriage in Latin America: Promise and Resistance, Mexico's Foreign Policy and What is the United States? He is a political analyst at CNN and IMER amd moderator of the program Sin Filter (Unfiltered) program, on Televisa. He was Deputy Director of the Foreign Affairs Latin America Magazine. @genarolozano