Military Spending Soars as Mexico's Human Rights Situation Worsens teleSUR English
go to original January 5, 2016

Purchases of US Weapons Are at a Record High in Mexico (CCTV America)

Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto spent more on the military budget in 2014 than any other previous Mexican government, Sin Embargo reported Tuesday.

Analyzing the Swiss-based Stockholm International Peace Research Institute’s Military Expenditure Database, the Mexican news outlet revealed that Peña Nieto's administration closed 2014 with a record military budget reaching US$8.66 billion, along with a spike in weapons purchases.

This amount represents 0.7 percent of the Mexican gross domestic product – while Mexican investment in science in technology, for instance, never exceeded 0.5 percent.

Although the proportion of military expense related to GDP has remained at the same level over the past 20 years (since the Zapatista conflict started in 1994), per capita this amount has more than doubled – from about US$30 to $70 per Mexican in 2014.

A great part of the expenses have been due to the purchase of military equipment, much of it bought from the United States, and has reached an unprecedented level, Sin Embargo pointed out.

The country’s increased militarization was initiated during the previous government of Felipe Calderon, prompted by the U.S.’s 2008 Merida Initiative, a drug war security cooperation plan largely modeled after Plan Colombia.

Last March, Admiral William E. Gortney, head of command of the U.S. Armed Forces, told the U.S. Senate, “Last year became a historic milestone with our bilateral relations with Mexico, regarding national security.”

Read the rest at teleSUR

We invite you to add your charity or supporting organizations' news stories and coming events to PVAngels so we can share them with the world. Do it now!