They reacted to the possibility raised by Prime Minister Gustavo Adrianzén that the Armed Forces, which support the National Police in the areas declared in emergency, would take the lead and the Police would second them, if the current formula does not produce results.

Former Interior Minister Wilfredo Pedraza argued that the military cannot fulfill the task, because they are not in conditions to fight the origin of criminality.

“The chief will no longer be a general of the Police but a general of the Army, maybe we will see a little more military in the streets but that will not mean anything at all to improve security”, he declared to the newspaper La República.

He added that the main way to combat organized crime is for intelligence groups to carry out investigations to capture gang leaders. That opinion was shared by another former Interior Minister, Ruben Vargas, who said that despite the worsening of insecurity in recent years, the government has not understood the nature of the problem.

ef/jav/ro/mrs