Mexico’s new president outlined a security strategy Monday that increases the role of the country’s espionage and intelligence agencies.
Among the specifics that stood out in President Enrique Peña Nieto’s announced plans, Mexico will be split into five security regions, though where the lines will be drawn on the map remained unsaid. And a 10,000-member paramilitary police force will be created to take over the Mexican Army’s presence on the streets.
George Grayson is a professor and author of a book on the drug cartels. He said Peña Nieto’s focus on the role the Ministry of the Interior will play in security is a crucial change.
"In the past 12 years, the powers of Gobernacíon or the Interior Ministry have been watered down. And this is an attempt to restore them," Grayson said.
Peña Nieto also said he wants to create 15 federal units to fight crime against the wealthy and middle class by focusing on kidnapping and extortion.
