Editorial: Mexico's Armed Forces Must Explain

La Jornada, February 10, 2015 8:29
Original in Spanish: http://www.jornada.unam.mx/ultimas/2015/02/10/editorial-sedena-precisiones-necesarias-1991.html
Translation: Americas Program

Yesterday, during the commemoration of the March of Loyalty--when Heroic Military College cadets escorted President Francisco I. Madero at the beginning of the 'tragic decade'--Secretary of Defense, General Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda endorsed the subordination of military authorities to civil institutions. Referring to the military, he stated, "There are those who want to distance us from the people."  

This is a serious remark, not only because it comes from the head of the Department of Defense but because it is formulated at a time when members of the armed forces face charges for their alleged involvement in extrajudicial executions, including those perpetrated in Tlatlaya, State of Mexico in June last year, and when various sectors call for the alleged involvement of military personnel in the attack on normalistas in Iguala, Guerrero investigation, four months ago.

In such circumstances, an accusation like that made yesterday by General Cienfuegos does not contribute to clearing up society's expressions of distrust that affect institutionality as a whole and the armed forces in particular. If indeed the military commanders have identified a specific effort oriented to causing a rift between the armed forces and the civilian population, it would be appropriate to formulate a precise statement that clearly names whoever they are accusing of these acts.

In the absence of such specific information, what can be seen is a national situation of erosion of the image of the armed forces among various sectors of the population as a result of their involvement in tasks beyond their constitutional mandate. The main responsibility for this deterioration does not lie with the military, but with civil rulers who have abused both their authority and the loyalty extolled yesterday by the Secretary of Defense to address a public safety crisis that must be dealt with through statesmanship and not from a military logic.

Many voices from civil society have stated on numerous occasions that the central tasks of the Army, Navy and Air Force are to preserve security and national sovereignty, safeguard territorial integrity and help the population during disasters, not investigate or combat the various criminal groups that have increased in the country over the past few decades. Also, it has been stated many times that  sending in the military to perform police duties not only puts them at risk of being infiltrated by criminal groups, but creates an environment for the commission of human rights violations and, eventually, foments precisely the distance between civilians and the military that Cienfuegos warned of.

The Mexican military's discipline and loyalty to the civilian power structure are valuable and unquestionable attributes, and it is paradoxical and regrettable that successive governments have appealed to them to detract from the core mission of the armed forces and that by doing so this has  opened them up to public criticism.  

But if there has been a deliberate effort to distance the army from the people, the military command should come right out and express it openly and accurately.

Mexico Police Launch Manhunt for Owner of Crematorium

TeleSur: The Guerrero State Attorney General’s office officially confirmed that 60 bodies were found late Thursday evening in an abandoned crematorium in the Llano Largo neighborhood of the Mexican beach resort city of Acapulco.

Officials revised earlier reports that 61 or more corpses were recovered at the site. Read more. 

The Mexican morass

Note: This editorial by The Economist has caused waves in Mexico. It's a very strong condemnation of the Peña Nieto administration, combining the deteriorating security situation, especially the case of Ayotzinapa, and the corruption scandals  of conflict of interest. Here in Mexico, Peña nieto gained few points with his commitment to be investigated by a hand-picked investigator.

The Economist: In a new year message Mexico’s president, Enrique Peña Nieto, promised to work to “liberate” his country from crime, corruption and impunity. His cabinet has duly set these as its priorities. The message is the right one. But unfortunately for Mr Peña, Mexicans are increasingly cynical about the messenger.

Mexico is still seething over the government’s leaden response to the kidnap in September of 43 students by municipal police in the south-western state of Guerrero and their apparent murder by drug traffickers. The investigation of the case seems to have stalled. Mr Peña’s main policy response to the massacre is a proposed constitutional amendment to abolish municipal police forces. But Congress may not approve it, not least because some are less rotten than the state forces, which would take their place. Read more. 

"Not Counting Mexicans or Indians": The Many Tentacles of State Violence Against Black-Brown-Indigenous Communities

TruthOut: "They tried to bury us, but they didn't know we were seeds." - Popul Vuh

Between my eyes, I bear a scar in the shape of a "T" that I received on March 23, 1979, on the streets of East Los Angeles. It functions as a reminder that my skull was cracked, but more importantly, that I did not remain silent and that I won two police violence trials, for witnessing and photographing the brutal beating of a young man by perhaps a dozen sheriff's deputies.

These events are seared into my memory because of how I remember them. After coming back to consciousness, amid violent threats, I was handcuffed and left facedown on the cold street, bleeding profusely from my forehead. While in shock and unable to even lift my head, in my own pool of blood, amid flashing red and blue lights everywhere, I could see many dozens of officers giving chase and arresting everyone in sight. What I also witnessed in the reflection of my own blood was everything that I will relay here. Read more. 

Commission: Mexico has 'serious problem' with disappearances

AP:  Mexico has a "serious problem" with disappearances and lacks a comprehensive national list of the missing to effectively deal with the problem, according to a report the country's National Human Rights Commission will present Monday to the U.N.

Commission chairman Luis Raul Gonzalez Perez will ask the United Nations Committee On Enforced Disappearances in Geneva to make several recommendations to Mexico's government on the issue, said the document, which The Associated Press was allowed to see. Read more.

Mexico Tortured Police For Confessions In 43 Students Case: Report

Huffington Post: An investigative report published Sunday by the Mexican magazine Proceso accuses Mexican authorities of beating and torturing municipal police officers in an effort to force confessions in the case of the missing 43 students whose disappearances have led to mass protests across the country.

Based on documents obtained from Mexico’s office of the attorney general and interviews with the police officers’ families, the article, by journalists Anabel Hernández and Steve Fisher, casts doubts on the state's official explanation for what happened to the missing students, and suggests that the use of torture may have compromised the prosecution. Read more. 

More Femicide Victims Identified from Border Graveyard

Frontera NorteSur: The parents of Esmeralda Castillo Rincon recently heard sad news about their long-disappeared daughter. The 14-year-old had been missing from her Ciudad Juarez home since 2009, and the parents had waged a long campaign demanding her safe return.

On January 16, however, the Chihuahua state prosecutor's office (FGECH) notified Jose Luis Castillo and his wife, Martha Rincon, that Esmeralda's remains were among those of other female murder victims recovered from the Navajo Arroyo in the Juarez Valley bordering the United States in 2012 and 2013.