La geopolítica de la protección contra el crimen en México el debate sobre la propuesta del mando único policial

Abstract

The goal of this article is to analyze the initiative presented to Congress by President Felipe Calderon which proposes to create a unified command for state police forces. According to this initiative, each state would have a unified police force and the municipalities would stop offering this public service as it is currently mandated by Mexican constitution. This work is organized in three parts. The first part addresses the issue of governmental structure designs from three theoretical perspectives: fiscal federalism, institutionalism and critical geopolitics. The second part reviews the debate about the unified command for police forces and the progress made in the introduction of this policy in selected states. I analyze the initiative from the perspective of critical geopolitics to uncover its subjacent assumptions and meanings and to show why this initiative is unlikely to be passed by congress any time soon. I use hemerographic information to document progress in the introduction of the initiative and to exemplify the concerns raised by a diversity of political actors. Criticism is focused on the assumptions that central forces will be more efficient, less corrupt, and more responsive to the needs of public security in all parts of the country. Based on the analysis of the situation, I propose that this is a centralist perspective of power and a case of political opportunism by those who consider that a centralist state and a punitive approach to public security are the two best options to tackle violence and organized crime. I conclude by pointing at the implications of this debate for the discussion of federalist governance model which include the need of a broader debate of constitutional issues, and the need to discuss highly contested issues within a larger debate of the strengths and weaknesses of a federal regime.