In Mexico, as Throughout Latin America, Acceptance of Armed Forces on the Rise Sergio Ramos - Infosurhoy.com
go to original January 3, 2013

Colombian soldiers destroyed a cocaine laboratory in the department of Valle del Cauca. (Colombian Navy)

MEXICO CITY – A survey by the Latin American Social Sciences Institute (FLACSO) shows 84% of Latin Americans are in favor of getting the military involved in the fight against narco-trafficking, and 83.2% would also like to see the military target organized crime.

The Report on Governance and Democratic Coexistence, which is the second part of the Latin America Public Opinion Project, interviewed 9,057 people in 28 cities and 18 countries throughout Latin America on topics such as tolerance, democratic values, public safety and the democratic institutions in each nation.

The survey also showed 85.5% of respondents supported allowing the Army to provide assistance to civilians in the wake of natural disasters. Eighty-five percent of those surveyed opposed the abolition of the Armed Forces.

In Brazil and Ecuador, 91% said the Armed Forces should be maintained, while in Paraguay, 73% expressed support.

The survey also revealed that in countries such as Mexico and Chile, more than 60% of respondents expressed confidence in the military, while in Guatemala and Argentina, only 29% and 31% had similar opinions, respectively.

Likewise, an average of 77% of Latin Americans said their countries are not vulnerable to coup d’états by the Armed Forces.

In Chile, 94% of the population believes a coup is “highly unlikely” or “not likely,” while in Peru and Brazil, the figure is 85%.

“The fact is that despite the experiences that several Latin American countries have had in the past with their Armed Forces, there is now a high level of acceptance, not just in their permanence but also in their active participation in the fight against drug trafficking,” said Bernardo Chávez, a security analyst for the Less Crime, Less Punishment public safety project overseen by the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness (IMC) and the NGO Mexico Evaluates. “It’s an indication that democracy has become a reality in the countries of Latin America.”

Chávez said the increase in the acceptance of the Armed Forces throughout Latin America can be attributed to two factors:
Criminal organizations no longer rely solely on narco-trafficking for funding and have turned to kidnapping and extortion;
The Armed Forces have proven they can be successful in the fights against narco-trafficking and organized crime, as police forces can’t win these battles alone.

More Mexicans trust Armed Forces

In Mexico, the survey shows 86.4% of the population trusts the Armed Forces in the fight against organized crime, and 84.4% is in favor of seeing the Armed Forces combat narco-trafficking. Sixty-five percent of respondents had confidence in the Armed Forces in the first part of the study, which was released by the Federal Electoral Institute (IFE) at the Latin American Democracy Forum in 2010.

“The difference is that in Mexico, the Army not only actively combats drug trafficking but also specializes in humanitarian tasks, such as civilian aid programs in the event of a disaster,” said Rodrigo Salazar, a researcher and coordinator of the Statistical Methods and Information Unit at FLACSO.

The Mexican Army became heavily involved in the narcotics fight when troops were deployed to narco-trafficking hotbeds shortly after former President Felipe Calderón took office in 2006.

“The Armed Forces had to intervene in the fight against organized crime and drug trafficking because even though it is a task for the police forces, it was obvious that they had been infiltrated and did not have the capacity to deal with that monster,” Chávez said.

In 2009, the Public Safety Ministry (SSP) published a list of Mexico’s 37 most wanted criminals. Since then, 25 of them have been arrested or died during military operations.

“If the final outcome, the study is in favor of military involvement, which shows the government has convinced the population the war against organized crime was necessary,” Salazar said.

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