Mexican congress approves keeping military in police work

By MARK STEVENSON
Associated Press

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s Congress has approved a constitutional reform that allows the armed forces to continue in domestic law enforcement duties until 2028. The reform backed by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador must still be approved by a majority of Mexico’s 32 state legislatures. Most experts agree that Mexico needs better-paid, trained and more professional civilian police. But López Obrador has relied almost exclusively on the military to confront drug gang violence and common crime. The new bill promises to restore some funding to improve state and local police forces. López Obrador cut such funding soon after he took office in December 2018.