Mexico's AMLO Government Won't Spend Money On More Guns

The future Minister of Public Security (SSP) Alfonso Durazo announced that the security plan for the next government led by Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO), will be revealed on Nov. 14. Durazo highlighted that the security budget will remain the same in 2019, however, and that the country will not acquire more arms, but will instead, use the money to strengthen training and skills for security forces.

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"The Mexican state has sufficient technological capacity and sufficient armament capacity, so there will be no purchases," stated Durazo outside of the "transition house," where president-elect AMLO met with the future ministers of the National Defense Ministry (Sedena) Luis Cresencio Sandoval, Navy Secretary Rafael Ojeda, Gobernation Ministry Olga Sanchez Cordero and the Sedena ministry Alfonso Durazo, to discuss the security plan for the new MORENA government that will be sworn-in on Dec. 1.

The security plan was supposed to be revealed today, however, the future ministers with AMLO are on "a process of refining the contents, the approaches and at that stage we are. And we are not going to precipitate the presentation at the risk of incurring an error, it will be presented on November 14," Durazo said.

Durazo highlighted that the security budget for 2019 would not differ from the one in 2018, however, it will be different in terms of how the money will be spent.  "About the priority, the Mexican state has sufficient technological capacity and sufficient armament capacity, so there will be no purchases (...) Budget priorities will be oriented in other areas," said Durazo. 

"The issue of prevention will be fundamental, the technological issue is fundamental, the issue of training and the issue of improving the economic conditions of the police," he highlighted.

Mexico’s president-elect AMLO is also expected to review security agreements with the United States, including the US$2.9 billion Merida initiative, a direct U.S. aid program to fight organized crime and drug trafficking in Mexico and Central America