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this post was submitted on 24 Feb 2024
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Mexico desperately needs a better military to withstand this kind of bullshit. At the current rate, the US is gonna try to coup Mexico soon. Once the US starts collapsing for real, Mexico is the first place American fascists are gonna expand into. The current Mexican air force is composed of 40 propeller plane fighters, and the other Army and Navy don't look much better.
There's a sort of logic to having a weak military in Mexico. Their only land neighbours are the USA, Guatemala and Belize. Neither south neighbour is a threat, and despite the USA being really inefficient there's no way Mexico could fight toe-to-toe with them if they were directly invaded.
They also don't have any strategic overseas rival like an imperialist power would.
So not only can you save lots of budget in the military, but it also reduces the harm that a well-funded and organised military can be to the "internal enemy", which is usually poor, indigenous, black or otherwise marginalised people. (Usually with the cover of "combatting drug trafficking")
Bribing the military is also part of the CIA modus operandi for interfering in Latin America. Just look at the current investigation on the Bolsonaro coup attempt and how many of the relevant generals took part in the MINUSTAH.
But I also don't think the USA will ever be able to directly attack Mexico without gigantic repercussions to themselves. They're better off just doing another Allende.
while that's true, the military is also the only institution that, if co-opted, could be used in a theoretical situation against local police, which is usually armed to the teeth in countries where drug trafficking is serious enough
when bolsonaro had his pathetic military parade, with tanks fuming like old chevettes (to the point where it became a meme), i was only happy until i remembered how our local police are pretty much brownshirts bearing automatic rifles
Tfw when you want to demilitarise the police, but the civilian police also sucks.
Also to add to your comment, narcos literally recruit from or start out as military units. Minimum military for a country like this just makes more sense. Mexico's not Iran.
i don't think the Mexican military is the kind of organization you want to pump full of guns if you want to avoid a right wing coup lol
Honestly I can only think of 5 militaries immune to that rule
Do those five exceptions happen to be two militaries in east Asia, two militaries in southeast Asia, and one military in the Caribbean?
In fact, they do, how did you guess that?