French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said in Santiago, Chile yesterday that his country will help Mexico set up its first national gendarmerie, a paramilitary force which Enrique Peña Nieto announced just days after he was elected July 1.
Ayrault's comments came at a summit sponsored by the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (CEPAL). Peña Nieto is attending the CEPAL forum, where he acknowledged on Friday that Mexico is confronting "grave security issues.". Ayrault said French consultants will arrive in Mexico in February.
In an open letter published in the New York Times on July 2, the then president-elect first announced plans to create the new gendarmerie, modeled after those used in Colombia, France, Italy and other countries (Enrique Peña Nieto's Manifesto makes New York Times). Several days later, Peña Nieto's newly designated drug war czar confirmed the idea (Security consultant elaborates on "new" Mexican drug war strategy - but is it?).
On Dec. 8, a week after he was sworn in, president Peña Nieto asked Mexico's congress to approve a $116 million dollar funding package for the elite force. Plans call for the gendarmerie eventually to be 40,000 strong, but it will begin operations with 10,000 officers, some drawn from existing federal units (Peña Nieto proceeds with plans for national gendarmerie, seeks $116 million dollars funding). The PRI government also plans to enlarge the nation's Federal Police by about 35,000 officers.
Beefing up Mexico's federal security forces comes with a hefty price tag. Last month the government submitted a 2013 domestic security budget of $520 million dollars, a 47% increase over former PAN president Calderón's last (2012) security budget (Mexico's new PRI government seeks huge increase in domestic security budget). But the president - 58 days into his term - has few alternatives as the 73 month old drug war rages on furiously (Executions soar in Mexico's heart, as Peña Nieto passes half-way point in critical first 100 days).
Mexico's gendarmerie will most likely see heavy duty in the countryside, where local police forces are weak or nonexistent, and organized crime frequently operates with impunity (In the hard, cold land of the Sierra Tarahumara, narco traffickers wage open war against the poorest of the poor).
France and Mexico patched up their long troubled relationship last week with the release of Florence Cassez, who spent over seven years in a Mexican prison for kidnapping and other crimes. At the U.N. summit, Ayrault proudly told reporters that Mexico had sought his country's assistance, because "it wants to create a national gendarmerie modeled after that of France."
France's modern day gendarmerie dates to 1791, and is well over 100,000 strong.
Jan. 27 - French Omelettes
Dec. 17 - Enrique Peña Nieto presents long awaited security plan
Sept. 6 - Peña Nieto transition team confirms: Mexican military will remain on the streets
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