The National Guard () is the national

gendarmerie A gendarmerie () is a paramilitary or military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to " men-at-arms" (). In France and so ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, created in 2019 by absorbing units and officers from the

Federal Police A law enforcement agency (LEA) is any government agency responsible for law enforcement within a specific jurisdiction through the employment and deployment of law enforcement officers and their resources. The most common type of law enforcement ...

Military Police Military police (MP) are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state. Not to be confused with civilian police, who are legally part of the civilian populace. In wartime operations, the military police may supp ...

, and Naval Police. In 2022, a reform package approved in the Mexican Congress transferred command of the National Guard to the

Secretariat of National Defense The Mexican Secretariat of National Defense (SEDENA; ) is the government department responsible for managing Mexico's Army and Air Forces. Its head is the Secretary of National Defense who, like the co-equal Secretary of the Navy, is directly answe ...

History

The National Guard was launched by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Andrés Manuel López Obrador Andrés Manuel López Obrador (; born 13 November 1953), also known by his initials AMLO, is a Mexican former politician, political scientist, public administrator and writer who served as the 65th president of Mexico from 2018 to 2024. He se ...

in 2019. It has since played a major part in intensifying the enforcement of immigration policy. Before becoming president, López Obrador campaigned on a promise to take the military off the streets. Shortly after assuming office, he released a plan to create the National Guard under control of the

Mexican Armed Forces The Mexican Armed Forces () are the military forces of the United Mexican States. The Spanish crown established a standing military in colonial Mexico in the eighteenth century. After Mexican independence in 1821, the military played an import ...

which would be in charge of "preventing and combating crime". López Obrador stated that the new National Guard would be critical to solving Mexico's ongoing security crisis. On 28 February,

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

voted to approve a 60,000-member national guard. On 27 May 2019, the law regulating the National Guard entered into force. On 30 June 2019, the National Guard was officially established. In June 2019, as part of a deal with the

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, Mexico agreed to deploy the newly formed National Guard to its border with

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

. While the guard was always intended to enforce

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, it was not intended to do so as soon as announced. A 2019 survey sponsored by ''

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'' and Mexican newspaper '' Reforma'' gathered information on public opinion regarding both the new National Guard and illegal immigration to Mexico. The survey was conducted from 9 July to 14 July 2019, among 1,200 adults across the country in 100 election districts by way of face-to-face interviews. A 53% majority voiced their trust in the national guard, with two-thirds saying that they would like the national guard to be in their city, whereas 45% report that they feel more safe with the domestic force. Furthermore, the survey said 51% of Mexicans support utilizing the country's recently formed National Guard to repel migration by illegal immigrants.

Command structure

Legislative acts of Congress assign full control of the National Guard to the Secretary of Security and Civilian Protection, who is in charge of all matters related to the work of the NG in law enforcement and public security, and the Secretariat of National Defense related to its military work as auxiliary to the Mexican Armed Forces. According to article 12 of the Law of the National Guard, the National Guard is organized on five command levels: * Secretary of Security and Civilian Protection/Secretary of National Defense * Operational Commander * Territorial Coordinator * State Coordinator * Unit Coordinator

Ranks

According to articles 29 and 30 of the Law of the National Guard, the ranks are:

Commissioned officers

Basic scale ladder

Equipment

Aircraft

* CASA/IPTN CN-235

References

External links

* {{Authority control Military units and formations established in 2019 Military of Mexico Federal law enforcement agencies of Mexico Gendarmerie Presidency of Andrés Manuel López Obrador