Elements of the Federal Police, from the Federal Forces, Gendarmerie and Regional Security divisions, protested against their transfer to the National Guard by taking over the facilities of the Command Center.

Photo: Notimex

On July 3, at least 1,500 members of the Federal Police peacefully took over the Command Center of the corporation located in Anillo Periferico, in the Iztapalapa district, to demonstrate against the conditions under which they are being asked to give up their seniority and without severance pay. They were dissatisfied with the working conditions they will have when they join the National Guard, accusing violations to their labor rights, such as the loss of benefits and the effects on their salaries.

Their main demand is that their benefits and seniority be respected in case they are transferred to the National Guard, as well as maintaining the structure of the Federal Police as it is at present, that the government refrain from reprisals, that the benefits provided by law be respected in the regulations, among others.

President López Obrador dismissed the protests, while the Secretary of Security, Alfonso Durazo, accused former President Felipe Calderón of links to the movement.

"Imagine an institution that should be an example of discipline, rebelling and taking the streets! This reaffirmed our conviction that the creation of the National Guard was necessary."

Andrés Manuel López Obrador Presidente de México

Former President Felipe Calderón has responded to Durazo's criticisms and demanded that he either prove his accusations or withdraw them, commenting as follows:

"I categorically deny the cowardly insinuation from the powers that be that I have organized or am behind the Federal Police protests."

On the other hand, the Undersecretary of Public Security, Ricardo Mejía Berdeja, assured that the great majority of the federal agents who protested accepted the agreement with the federal government and are already back at their workplaces.

Prepared by CAINTRA, with information from El Norte, El Financiero, Milenio, Aristegui Noticias and El Universal.