López Obrador has consistently questioned the increasing rate of crime and abuse currently plaguing Mexico despite the security plan introduced by former president Felipe Calderón and reinforced by Enrique Peña Nieto, who resigned from office in 2018.

As the president is known, Lopez Obrador has been perpetuating the militarisation model, apparently recognizing that what he has so far attempted has not been effective, amidst promising that his government would stop terrorism by identifying its underlying problems through government welfare programs.

AMLO brushed off the criticisms

With the entire country holding onto the promise of withdrawing the military from various Mexican regions, just four days ago a presidential decree was published stating that the armed forces are to continue their public security duties until 2024. The decree was considerably different from what Obrador stated when he ascended into presidency in 2018.

López Obrador, talking at a morning press briefing, shrugged off criticism that he is militarizing the nation, claiming he is adamant that the military forces are vital to decrease the increasing rates of violent activity plaguing Mexico.

The only factor which might change his mind, according to López Obrador, would be evidence that the military had performed violations of human rights whilst conducting state security operations under his leadership.

"Even though they criticize me, [saying] I want to militarize the country, I'm going to continue insisting that the armed forces must help us in public security tasks," President Lopez Obrador stated.

President López Obrador stated on Thursday that efforts to combat violence and abuse demands the navy and army 's discipline as well as professionalism, three days since he released a directive requiring the military forces to continue to carry on activities of public defense for the next four years.

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Armed forces range of human rights violations

In the past, the military forces have engaged or have been accused of engaging in a series of human rights abuses, such as the 2014 military massacre of 22 assumed terrorists in Tlatlaya, state of Mexico.

A study indicated conditions that obstruct civilian military investigations involve overlapping civilian and military investigations, insufficient access to witnesses from personnel, and troops who mess with criminal investigations or give false statements. There have been several reports of severe abuses of human rights by military throughout that period, like torture, massacres and even involuntary disappearances.

Moreover, according to experts, the Mexican army is also not prepared to participate in enforcement. That being said, many of the national police forces are perceived as corrupt, outgunned and often in frequent contact with organized crime syndicates, and therefore ineffective partners against the criminals.

"I don't want ... the National Guard to end up like the Federal Police because it would be a complete failure," President Lopez Obrador stated.

López Obrador claimed that he was also persuaded that the National Guard, the revolutionary paramilitary force intended to be the backbone of the defense policy of his government, would have a "close relationship" with the military.