Mexico Drug War: Mexico's Army Seeks More Funding, But Should it Have Key Security Role?

Mexico continues to go down the same wrong militarization path as the U.S.

InSight Crime: "Mexico's Ministry of Defense (SEDENA) is lobbying the country’s Congress for more than 13 billion pesos ($980 million) in funding to modernize the army and add thousands of new soldiers to its ranks. According to chairman of the Congressional Defense Committee, Rogelio Cerda Perez, the expansion and modernization of the army is “not a luxury but a necessity." He has called for "more troops on the streets," to fight drug trafficking gangs. The need to renew weaponry and vehicles is urgent, Cerda argues, with some equipment dating back to World War II. The 13 billion pesos demanded by the ministry would be used to reshape the army entirely, adding 10,800 troops and creating 18 new special forces battalions specialized in combating drug trafficking.

... despite .... the evident deterioration of the security situation in Mexico since 2006, Rogelio Cerda Perez is adamant that the blame for the failures of the last four years should be placed on insufficient government funding of the army, rather than on the unsuitability of the armed forces for internal security work. Under this theory, the army is simply not adequately equipped to combat the powerful transnational drug cartels, which have laid siege to many towns and regions. Cerda believes that the government’s aspirations to counter drug trafficking gangs through a military strategy will remain unsuccessful, unless defense spending increases significantly on current levels."

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