Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador announced Wednesday the government will recruit 50,000 civilians to serve in his country’s new National Guard.
In his first press conference of 2019, Lopez Obrador said the move would “address the problem of insecurity and violence.” He also said the plan would be carried out over a period of three or four years.
The force will supplement federal police and immigration officers, as well as military personnel, who have been inundated over the past three months dealing with tens of thousands of Central Americans migrating through Mexico to the U.S.
The Mexican president said those who wish to enroll can visit army and navy recruitment centers.
#ConferenciaPresidente | El #GobiernoDeMéxico convoca a jóvenes que quieran formar parte de la #GuardiaNacional como un trabajo digno y honroso.
La misión de las y los elementos será garantizar la seguridad y, al mismo tiempo, respetar y proteger los DDHH de las y los mexicanos. pic.twitter.com/1rZYELFCzM
— Gobierno de México (@GobiernoMX) January 2, 2019
Navy Secretary Jose Rafael Ojeda Duran said at the news conference those who enroll will be trained on three fronts: “Axiological, which are values and virtues, including military discipline and human rights. Technical-professional, including police and specialized training. Operational training, enabling it to comply with the four missions that are considered for the National Guard, and which are the following: to preserve public safety, to prevent and to combat the offenses of the federal, common and military orders.”
The Mexican government reinforced security at its southern border with Guatemala after aggressive large groups physically pushed through and assaulted federal law enforcement guarding the border.
Hundreds of Mexican Federal Police, including General Commissioner Manelich Castilla, and officers from the National Institute of Migration, the country’s immigration agency, were deployed to Tapachula, Chiapas, in mid-October after reports a caravan was headed to its southern border.
Chiapas is one of two Mexican states that border Guatemala.
Mexico’s Interior Ministry had warned it would only allow those granted visas to cross into the country. Those in the caravan would have had to have applied for visas at the Mexican consulates in Honduras.
Four days later, the first of the two caravans from Central America arrived at the Guatemala-Mexico International Bridge. The group filled the entire bridge and attempted to push through to Mexico. Police unleashed tear gas and smoke canisters, injuring an unspecified number of migrants.
State Secretary Mike Pompeo said four police officers were injured as a result of the stand-off.
The second group reached the Guatemala-Mexico border Sunday and was more violent than the first, as Trump noted during his remarks.
Guatemala’s Interior Ministry said its police officers were pushed back by the caravan despite having set up road barriers to keep people from attempting to get past them.
Mexican officials said some in the group hit police with rocks, glass bottles, guns, and firebombs.
Members of the group threw rocks and stones at police. One teenage boy from the caravan died during the group’s attempt to illegally enter Mexico.
Despite the government’s preparation efforts, the group pushed past law enforcement and entered Mexico after being told not to do so illegally.
“That was very violent a few days ago. Very, very violent. That break-in, it was a break-in to a country, they broke into Mexico,” President Trump told reporters at a press conference following the incident.
