On December 5, Claudia Sheinbaum was sworn in as Mexico City’s new Mayor for the next six years. A 56-year old engineer, Sheinbaum is a long-time political ally of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), having served as Environment Secretary during his administration as Mexico City’s Mayor from 2000 to 2005. In her inauguration speech, Sheinbaum stated her plans to eliminate the city’s anti-riot police forces, known as “Granaderos”, which reportedly have between 3,000 and 6,000 agents. The Granaderos, which are part of Mexico City’s Public Security Secretariat (SSPCDMX), have the mission to preserve public order and security. Sheinbaum reportedly plans to integrate the Granaderos into the regular city police.
We assess that Sheinbaum’s proposal to eliminate the Granaderos corps, integrating their agents into other sectors of the city’s police is an overture toward left-leaning sectors of society, who accuse the Granaderos of committing abuses against protesters. That said, local pundits argue that this action will inevitably lead to the creation of a similar riot police force, thus representing an unnecessary transaction. Should the Granaderos corps be substituted by a different though similar police organization, no changes in the maintenance of public security are likely to occur.