Mexico’s president vowed to end the drug war. Instead he’s doubled the number of troops in the streets

Mexican troops are deployed in the streets of Cerocahui in Chihuahua state, where two Jesuit priests were slain, on June 26, 2022. It was a reminder of not only the ongoing security crisis gripping this nation but also President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s failed promise to pull soldiers off the streets. As a candidate, López Obrador vowed a radical break with the militarized security strategy of his predecessors, which he blamed for turning Mexico “into a cemetery.” He floated the idea of drug legalization and amnesty for criminals and promised to lift up poor communities with “hugs, not bullets.” Insisting that soldiers “don’t solve anything,” he repeatedly vowed to “return the army to the barracks.” Yet since taking office nearly four years ago, López Obrador has embraced the armed forces with unprecedented fervor, expanding many of the same policies that he once attacked. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador rides past troops during a military parade in Mexico City in 2021. Some say López Obrador needs the military because he has alienated many of the nation’s traditional power brokers — including its business elite and the opposition parties that maintain strong links to public-sector unions.