Sheinbaum paves the way to enhance the Army’s intelligence efforts to support her National Security Strategy.

The president, Claudia Sheinbaum, has prepared a move that she hopes will finally unblock her National Security Strategy, which has been stalled in Congress. On Monday, the president sent an initiative to the Chamber of Deputies through the Permanent Commission—a legislative body that operates during the recess periods of the chambers—that seeks to give more power, particularly in matters of intelligence, to the military and thus balance her security plan. The laws granting extensive investigation and intelligence powers to the Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection (SSyPC), led by Omar García Harfuch, have been stuck for months due to a lack of consensus within the ruling party itself. The new proposal amends several laws and creates a new one, the National Guard Law. With this ambitious legislative package, it balances the scales between civilian and military leadership in an effort to clear the way for her initial proposals to see the light during the extraordinary session period. In her proposal, the president aligns the powers in investigation and intelligence of the Secretariat of National Defense (Sedena) and its extension, the National Guard, responsible for public security.

The Public Security System Law and the National Investigation and Intelligence System Law are the two presidential proposals that grant extensive powers to the SSyPC to investigate crimes and carry out intelligence work. This was the breaking point that had stalled the presidential proposals, according to sources from Morena close to the presidency. The Secretariat of National Defense, under General Ricardo Trevilla, reportedly resisted the authority granted to the police corporation. Sheinbaum has given the military what it requested, at least on paper. The amendment to the Organic Law of the Federal Public Administration establishes that among the powers of Sedena are “to generate, operate, process and use information in matters of national security” and to develop intelligence products and services.

In any case, in practice, it will be the Secretary of Security who has the final say in matters of investigation and intelligence. “[Sedena is responsible for] requesting and exchanging information on national security matters, prior coordination with the bodies of the National Security Council [presided over by the Secretary of Security] for the fulfillment of its functions,” reads one of the sections proposed for reforming the Organic Law of the Federal Public Administration, one of the seven regulations that have been touched upon in the presidential initiative sent on Monday to the Permanent Commission.

This new initiative will be added to a package of 22 pending issues, including a handful of proposals sent by Sheinbaum that have generated controversy and have stalled. In the previous six-year term, it was unthinkable for a proposal from President Andrés Manuel López Obrador not to be approved in fast track and without changes. The Telecommunications and Broadcasting Law, its discussion, was halted on the brink of closing the ordinary session period to dampen criticisms that claim it seeks to control the content of radio, television, and the internet.

There is also the reform to the Law of Search and the Population Registry, paused for approval in an attempt by the president to include the voices of families of the disappeared. The laws related to security are also included in the package of unaddressed initiatives.

Overall, the presidential proposal consolidates total control of the National Guard in Sedena, including harmonizing regulations that delineate the actions of the corporation for public security purposes, safeguarding the military rights of the personnel, penalties under military justice, and investigation and intelligence powers for the corporation. Morena was not caught off guard by the sudden presidential proposal. Ricardo Monreal, coordinator of the Morena deputies, stated on Monday that this proposal “aims to construct peace throughout the national territory.”