11/15/12 – Mexican President-Elect Ernesto Peña Nieto has announced an initiative to dismantle the Secretariat of Public Security and place it under the Secretary of Interior, which will manage National Gendarmerie. The hope is that national security issues will have a more solidified concept, structure and obligation to all branches. The restructuring is also meant to reestablish capacity and competence through the centers of communications, calculation, control and command, which were initially created but have been forgotten along the way.
Likewise, Peña announced the plan to dismantle the Secretariat of Public Function (Secretaría de la Función Pública, SFP) to be replaced with a National Anti-Corruption Commission. The purpose of the restructuring comes from a desire to strengthen police action, intelligence and to enhance the fight against corruption. The commission will consist of five approved counselors with nine-year terms staggered and the president of the commission is to be a lawyer. Peña Nieto is striving to improve intelligence so it is better suited in combatting money laundering and improve customs to decrease the passage of arms and narcotics. The commission is to have power at all three levels and branches that allow investigations, punishment for crimes, records, and to place cases before a judge.
Another big change Peña Nieto is pursuing, is to strengthen the Secretariat of Agrarian Reform (Secretaría de la Reforma Agraria, SRA).
President-elect has already met with those in charge of security policy with the objective of establishing the proposal that is to be presented to Congress. El Universal reported that his expansion into intelligence with the development of National Command and Control is meant to coordinate and increase its capability of forming in adequate time and security for emergencies.
In the Chamber of Deputies, the PRD has stated that they plan to approve Peña Nieto’s changes to eliminate SSP to be replaced by the Agency of Security. The PRD is willing to join forces and fight against crime. Roberto Carlos Reyes Gamiz also commented that for this to work there is no room for “politicking” and that support should be given to the initiative. Gamiz supports the changes as in the past he proposed the creation of a court of transparency and sees this as a step in the right direction. On November 14th Peña Nieto met with PRI’s Chamber of Deputies and Senate members to affirm the initiative that will be presented to Congress in the days to come.
Sources:
Herrera, Ronaldo. “Acusa Medina daños al SNSP.” Reforma. November 13, 2012.
“Peña eliminará SSP y Función Pública.” El Universal: Norte Digital. November 12, 2012.
