HomeNewsBriefPeña Nieto Announces Public Security Reforms
BRIEF

Peña Nieto Announces Public Security Reforms

MEXICO / 15 NOV 2012 BY CLAIRE O NEILL MCCLESKEY EN

Mexico's president-elect, Enrique Peña Nieto, plans to reorganize the government's security agencies, handing greater powers to the Interior Ministry, but it remains to be seen whether the shift will mean a change of overall strategy from that of the current president, Felipe Calderon.

Peña Nieto, who will take office on December 1, stated that the reforms will help better organize the Mexican government and improve its ability to fight corruption and crime, reported El Universal.

The administrative reforms would eliminate the Secretariat of Public Security (SSP) and place the functions of internal security -- including crime prevention, the penitentiary system, and the Federal Police -- under the control of the Interior Ministry. This change would signify a return to the ministry's responsibilities prior to 2000 when Peña Nieto's Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) was last in power. The SSP was created by Vicente Fox's administration in 2000.

Peña Nieto also plans to eliminate the Civil Service Secretariat (SFP) and replace it with a new National Anti-Corruption Commission, an independent body tasked with investigating official corruption at all three levels of government, reported EFE.

A professor at Tecnologico de Monterrey's Graduate School of Public Administration and Public Policy told the Associated Press that these reforms represent a "disqualification" of outgoing president Felipe Calderon's strategy.

InSight Crime Analysis

It is too early to tell to what degree Peña Nieto will break with his predecessor's policies. While the president-elect has stated that he intends to prioritize lowering murder, kidnapping, and extortion rates, suggesting a shift away from Calderon's "kingpin strategy," -- one which emphasized targeting the heads of criminal gangs -- he has also declared his support for the continued use of the military to fight organized crime.

As Peña Nieto has indicated, his planned administrative reforms are aimed at centralizing the Mexican federal government's public security apparatuses, which often struggle with inter-agency coordination and information sharing. These do not necessarily represent a dramatic departure from the previous administration, however.

Many of the reforms proposed by Peña Nieto, both during his campaign and after his election, have yet to be fully outlined in detail. For example, while he has frequently touted the idea of creating a 40,000-member "national gendarmarie," he has yet to provide any details on who would make up the force, how it would be organized, and how it would contribute to public security.

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Tags

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

FENTANYL / 16 NOV 2022

Mexico’s two most powerful organized crime groups are reportedly sourcing precursor chemicals from the same suppliers to produce fentanyl.

FENTANYL / 22 FEB 2023

The misuse of the term "cartel" by US lawmakers at a recent hearing on fentanyl prompts us to ask: should…

DISPLACEMENT / 24 NOV 2021

Winning a lottery prize of close to $1 million should have been a positive, life-changing event for a kindergarten and…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

All Eyes on Ecuador

2 JUN 2023

Our coverage of organized crime in Ecuador continues to be a valuable resource for international and local news outlets. Internationally, Reuters cited our 2022 Homicide Round-Up,…

WORK WITH US

Open Position: Social Media and Engagement Strategist

27 MAY 2023

InSight Crime is looking for a Social Media and Engagement Strategist who will be focused on maintaining and improving InSight Crime’s reputation and interaction with its audiences through publishing activities…

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela Coverage Receives Great Reception

27 MAY 2023

Several of InSight Crime’s most recent articles about Venezuela have been well received by regional media. Our article on Venezuela’s colectivos expanding beyond their political role to control access to…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Chemical Precursor Report Continues

19 MAY 2023

For the second week in a row, our investigation into the flow of precursor chemicals for the manufacture of synthetic drugs in Mexico has been cited by multiple regional media…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime’s Chemical Precursor Report Widely Cited

THE ORGANIZATION / 12 MAY 2023

We are proud to see that our recently published investigation into the supply chain of chemical precursors feeding Mexico’s synthetic drug production has been warmly received.