Mexico President to Dissolve Local Police Forces After Slaughter of 43 Students
Mexico President Enrique Pena Nieto announced that he will be dissolving corruption-plagued local police forces, following nationwide protests after the presumed slaughter of 43 students.
"Society has raised its voice to say enough is enough," Pena Nieto said, according to AFP.
"Mexico must change," he added in a speech at the National Palace before congressmen, governors and civil society groups.
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The students were reportedly kidnapped in September by corrupt police officers who handed them over to the Guerreros Unidos drug cartel in Iguala. While it has not been officially confirmed what happened to the students, authorities have admitted it is highly likely that they have been massacred. Gang members have also confessed to killing the students.
The incident sparked protests across several Mexican cities, with the Roman Catholic Church, the largest Christian body in the country, also strongly speaking out against corruption.
"Adding our voice to theirs and to all of society, we say, 'Enough with so much corruption, impunity and violence,'" the Mexican bishops' conference said in a statement earlier in November.
"Respectfully and energetically, we ask the authorities to take the investigation to its final consequences so that it's known with certainty what has happened with the disappeared, and the intellectual authors ... are punished with the full weight of the law," the statement continued.
"At the same time, we demand the enforcing of the rule of law to put an end to all forms of violence, illicit activities, corruption, impunity and the complicity of some authorities with organized crime."
Pena Nieto explained that the proposed reforms will allow federal authorities to take over municipalities that have been connected to criminal gangs. The measures will include the dissolution of 1,800 municipal police forces, "which can easily be corrupted by criminals," the president said.
CNN noted that the announcement followed the discovery of 11 partially burned bodies of young adults in southwestern Mexico, an hour's drive from where the 43 students went to school.
Authorities have so far not announced the identity of the remains, but it was noted that some of the victims were decapitated.
At least 75 people have been arrested in connection with the kidnappings, though families of the victims are demanding concrete answers about what happened to their loved ones.
Mexico has faced a growing problem with drug cartels and criminal gangs for years. Reuters reported that only 2 percent of crimes in the country result in convictions.
While the murder rate has slightly decreased since Peno Nieto became president two years ago, the suspected massacre of the students in Iguala has shaken public confidence in administration.
The Mexican government has said that in addition to dissolving local police forces, special security operations will be launched in the troubled southwest region. Pena Nieto has said that he will also try to tackle other social ills, such as the growing gap between the rich and the poor.
"Today there are two Mexicos: One that is part of the global economy with growing levels of income, development and well-being; and then there is a poorer Mexico with historical problems that have been unresolved for generations," the president admitted.
