The four pillars of Sheinbaum’s national security strategy

The new federal government on Tuesday presented its national security strategy, based on four key pillars, including the consolidation of the National Guard and the strengthening of intelligence collection.

Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch told President Claudia Sheinbaum’s morning news conference that “under the leadership of the President of Mexico … we have designed a national security strategy based on four core principles.”

The four “ej” – axes or core principles – of the strategy designed to reduce crime in a country with major security problems are:

1. Attention to the root causes of crime.
2. Consolidation of the National Guard.
3. Strengthening intelligence and investigative practices.
4. “Absolute” coordination within the federal government’s security cabinet and with state authorities.

“The first axis is attention to the causes,” said García, who served as Mexico City’s security minister from 2019 to 2023, while Sheinbaum was mayor of the capital.

“We will continue with the strategy that started during the administration of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the strategy of prioritizing the most vulnerable families, reducing poverty, closing gaps, (fighting) inequality and creating opportunities so that young people have access to a better quality of life,” he said.

“This will allow us to distance ourselves from crime and the recruitment (of young people) by crime groups,” García said.

One program launched by the previous federal government that aims to provide young Mexicans with job opportunities and move them away from a life of crime is the “Youths Building the Future” apprenticeship program.

Providing social and welfare programs is the central aspect of the first part of the so-called “hugs, not bullets” security strategy pursued by the López Obrador administration.

The second part of the strategy’s nickname refers to the desire to avoid violent confrontations with crime groups wherever possible.

García said that “the consolidation of the National Guard, within the National Ministry of Defense (Sedena), is extremely important.”

The National Guard, a 133,000-member force created during López Obrador’s six-year term in office, was placed under Sedena’s control last week after both houses of Congress last month approved a constitutional bill aimed at wresting military control of to restore the agency.

While emphasizing the importance of strengthening security forces, García acknowledged the precarious security situations prevailing in “some communities in our country,” as well as the immense “firepower” of organized crime groups.

“We absolutely need a force like the National Guard to provide support … to hundreds of thousands of families in Mexico,” he said, adding that security forces will also support the country’s investigators and intelligence agents.

Although the National Guard is now under the control of the military, García emphasized that it is a “police institution,” albeit with “military doctrine” and “military discipline.”

“…There are families today who do not have access to reliable municipal police or state police who are fully equipped (to do their job). That’s where the National Guard will play an important role,” he said.

García rejected claims that placing the National Guard under the control of the military amounted to greater militarization of public security in Mexico.

“It is incorrect that there is militarization. What we are doing is taking advantage of the capabilities of the National Department of Defense,” he said.

Regarding “the third axis – the strengthening of intelligence and research – the Minister of Security said that the aim is not only to “respond” to crimes, but also to “anticipate” them.

The government will use “intelligence” and “the most advanced technological means to analyze data, identify (criminal) patterns and understand the dynamics in the areas with the highest crime rates,” García said.

“This way we can develop the most effective strategies to combat criminal organizations,” he said.

To boost intelligence capabilities, an intelligence and police investigation department will be created within the federal Ministry of Security, García said.

The division will be supported by forensic experts including analysts, field investigators and intelligence agents, he said.

Speaking about “the fourth axis” – coordination between authorities – García said that insecurity is a problem that is a “shared responsibility” and that requires a “joint response.”

“That is why we will have absolute coordination among the security cabinet institutions,” he said, referring to the president’s office, the Ministry of Security, the Ministry of Interior, the army and the navy.

García also said the federal government will work closely with state authorities “when necessary.”

3 objectives for building ‘lasting peace’

The Security Minister said the government has also “established three main objectives for building lasting peace in the country.”

They are:

1. The decline in the crime rate, “particularly murders and high-impact crimes such as extortion.”
2. The neutralization of “violence generators and criminal networks, with a focus on areas with a high crime rate.”
3. The strengthening of “prevention capacities and social proximity of the local police.”

To achieve the goals, “several lines of action” have been developed, García said.

Among them: the strengthening of the national intelligence system and the strengthening of the executive secretariat of the national public security system.

García also said there will be a “comprehensive” focus on combating high-impact crimes, starting with law enforcement authorities and continuing through the country’s prosecutors’ offices, courts and prison system.

In addition, he said a specific “intervention strategy” has been developed to combat high-impact crimes in the states of Guanajuato, Baja California, Chihuahua, Guerrero, Jalisco and Sinaloa, all of which have significant security challenges.

“From the Security Cabinet of the Mexican Government, we will work together with all federal entities, because we are convinced that to achieve lasting peace in the country, we must accept that security is a shared responsibility,” García stressed.

“I will take this opportunity to express special thanks to Federal Attorney General Dr. Alejandro Gertz Manero, for his determined cooperation… and for providing the operational and investigative capabilities of the Public Prosecutor’s Office for the success of this strategy,” he said. .

Sheinbaum: the ‘war on narcos’ will not return

A week after she was sworn in, President Sheinbaum reiterated that her administration will not wage the kind of militarized “war” against drug cartels that former President Felipe Calderón launched shortly after coming to power in December 2006.

“The first thing, and this is very important, is that Calderón’s war against the narcos will not return,” said Sheinbaum, who will nevertheless continue to use the military for public security duties.

The murder rate rose significantly during Calderón’s government, before continuing to rise during Enrique Peña Nieto’s term (2012–2018). The murder rate increased even more in the first half of López Obrador’s presidency, before declining slightly in the second half of his six-year term.

In an effort to further distinguish her government from Calderón’s, Sheinbaum declared that “we are not looking for extrajudicial killings.”

“What are we going to use (to fight crime)? Prevention, intelligence and presence (of security forces),” she said.

The new president has not had a good start to her presidency in terms of security. The Mexican army killed six migrants in Chiapas just hours after she was sworn in, apparently mistaking them for criminals, while the mayor of Chilpancingo was beheaded on Sunday.

A fierce battle between rival factions of the Sinaloa Cartel continues to rage in Culiacán and other parts of Sinaloa, while last Thursday twelve bodies were found on the streets of Salamanca, Guanajuato.

On Tuesday morning, Sheinbaum acknowledged that Guanajuato is by far the most violent state in Mexico when it comes to total homicides.

She said there is also a serious addiction problem in the state, telling reporters that León is “the city with the highest number of poor people.”

“Guanajuato is a state with an average salary that is below the minimum. There is clearly a development model that has failed,” she said of a state ruled by the conservative National Action Party (PAN) for more than 30 years.

During her mayoralty, Sheinbaum managed to significantly reduce the number of murders and other serious crimes in Mexico City.

She, García, other federal officials — and millions of Mexicans fed up with violence and insecurity — will hope that the same kind of success can be repeated on a national scale through the implementation of the security strategy outlined Tuesday morning.

With reports from Milenio, Reforma and El Universal