The Mexican Government is managing the purchase of weapons in the United States to renew the equipment used by the Mexican Armed Forces.
The German company Sig Sauer has requested authorization from the United States Congress to sell automatic weapons to Mexico for 5.5 million dollars, as revealed by
Reuters on
Tuesday
.
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The German firm, with a subsidiary in the State of New Hampshire (USA), last week asked US congressmen for authorization to close the transaction.
Because the weapons manufactured by the company have parts made in the United States, the agreement must have the approval of the United States government.
The Administration of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has not yet confirmed the purchase of this equipment, nor the use that will be given to it.
Since the arrival of López Obrador to the presidency, his government has prioritized the role of the Armed Forces in public security activities.
The last proposal of the Executive, which has yet to be approved by the Mexican Congress, is the integration of the National Guard - a civil security body - into the Secretariat of National Defense (Sedena), a military institution.
On the other hand, Mexico has asked the United States for changes in the region's security strategy.
Last week, the Mexican Foreign Minister, Marcelo Ebrard, assured that the Merida Initiative - the US plan to fight the Mexican drug cartels - is no longer enough to cover the problem.
“The Merida Initiative is dead.
It doesn't work, ”Ebrard told
The Washington Post
.
The Merida Initiative includes grants of up to $ 3 billion that have been used to purchase security equipment for the Armed Forces of Mexico.
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