Senate Endorses Entry Of Armed US Military, “Green Berets”, Into Mexican Territory

"Sol Prendido" for Borderland Beat

With 79 votes in favor, 10 votes against - legislators from the parliamentary group of the Citizen Movement (MC)- and one abstention, the Plenary Session of the Senate of the Republic approved, on April 2, 2024, the entry of 11 elements of the Army from the United States, for training tasks for Mexican military personnel.

The Plenary Session of the Upper House of the Congress of the Union approved that as of April 8 and until May 17, 2024, the elements of the US Army would attend training tasks, which would be carried out at the National Training Center. Training, located in Santa Gertrudis, Chihuahua.

The draft opinion presented by the National Defense Commission of the Senate - whose president is Félix Salgado Macedonio from Guerrero - granted authorization to the head of the Federal Executive Branch, to grant said training, called “Joint Combined Exercise Training (JCET)”.

According to a document sent by the Legal Department of the Federal Executive (CJEF), said exercise would allow the elements of the Mexican Armed Forces to continue with their training and training, in the face of the challenges presented by contemporary Mexico, in addition to strengthening the bilateral relationship. .

This, as part of the Bilateral Military Cooperation Round Table, the Secretariat of National Defense (SEDENA), in coordination with the Northern Command of the United States of America, established that, as part of the 2024 Annual Activities Plan, it will be carry out Combined Joint Exercise Training.

The United States delegation will enter aboard a C-130 Hercules aircraft of the US Air Force, which will land at Air Base No. 11, located in Santa Gertrudis Chihuahua, on April 8, 2024. , starting on May 17 of this year.

“The United States Army delegation, made up of 11 instructor elements from the 7th. Special Forces Group of the United States of America will enter carrying its own weapons, ammunition, material and specialized equipment to carry out the activity,” the ruling established.

When speaking against, the senator of the Plural Group, Emilio Álvarez Icaza Longoria, questioned that although the Morena political party claims to defend national sovereignty, this did not seem to him to be a transfer of the exercise of authority in Mexican territory.

The legislator indicated that although the best international techniques were required to combat threats to national security, this had been resolved by sending military personnel to receive training and they were the ones who trained their troops. “I have heard inflammatory speeches about sovereignty, but this does not seem like a transfer of sovereignty,” insisted Álvarez Icaza Longoria.

The senator from the Plural Group stated that there was no legal order that allowed soldiers from other armed countries to enter, in addition to the fact that those entering Mexico were the “green berets.” “This Administration is going to go down in history as the first to allow United States military personnel to enter national territory,” accused Álvarez Icaza Longoria.

In his turn, Damián Zepeda Vidales, senator of the parliamentary group of the National Action Party (PAN), described it as an excess not to allow elements from the United States to come to the country to carry out an international cooperation activity, with the aim of sharing best practices. 

“In fact, it seems desirable to me that people from Mexico go and that people from outside come, from the United States, Europe and so on. I don't see how national security can be put at risk because specialized elements of a foreign army come to give us training courses for the Mexican Army," Zepeda Vidales emphasized.

Zeta Tijuana