Following a string of serious occurrences, thousands of members of the National Guard will be stationed at metro stations and other institutions throughout Mexico City. According to a report by the news agency Reuters on Friday (January 13), Mexico City’s mayor Claudia Sheinbaum claimed on Thursday (January 12) that she requested the National Guard’s assistance after a string of “atypical occurrences.” A woman was killed and 57 people were injured on January 7 when two metro trains crashed in a tunnel. The deployment in the capital’s metro system comes almost a week later. After a part of the elevated railroad fell in May 2021, killing 26 people and hurting many more, this tragedy was the worst.
What is the purpose of the National Guard’s deployment?
As previously reported, the deployment follows a string of major mishaps on the metro in Mexico City, including the horrifying disaster on January 7. Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum told reporters on Thursday that additional, less significant occurrences, such as wheel issues, have been recorded recently, according to a report by the news agency AFP on Friday. The mayor noted that on the day the two trains collided (January 7), there was a different issue at a different metro station, another incident the following day, and a third incident two days later (on January 11) involving a train car that had been serviced the day before, according to Reuters.
The metro system of Mexico City will be home to some 6,000 National Guard personnel. According to a tweet from Mayor Sheinbaum, the guards’ main responsibility will be to ensure that users are safe. She added that the guards may remain there permanently while waiting for a later evacuation and that they would be deployed for a few months to help with security and monitoring.
What are the opinions of the passengers on the deployment?
Speaking to Reuters, Lucia Corsas, a passenger, said the deployment of the National Guard in Mexico City’s metro is ”very good.” “I think the metro needs maintenance, but it’s a lot of a coincidence that so many events are happening recently. Mainly, because of the political issues that occurred recently, but I also think this would be a bit paranoid. We better should focus on what we can do, which is to repair some issues of the metro, and I think the deployment of the National Guard is very good,” Corsas said.
While praising the choice, another rider, Diego Alberto Lara, claimed that the National Guard’s presence will increase safety in the metro. “I once reported being assaulted in the metro to the police, but they disregarded me. And as for what is going on, I don’t believe it was sabotage; instead, I believe it was some sort of shortcut because there are rats on the train tracks that bite the cables. Shortcuts are prompted by this “Lara provided the news organization with the information. (https://www.udenar.edu.co/)
Are there any issues?
According to a report from AFP on Friday, President Manuel Lopez Obrador’s political adversaries accuse him of directing Mexico’s “militarization” by handing the armed forces more authority. In response to his opponents’ criticism of the National Guard’s presence in the metro, Obrador said, “If they call that militarization or whatever they name it, we assume responsibility.” Amnesty International, on the other hand, voiced alarm about the choice and urged for a guarantee that duties related to public security are carried out by civil institutions.