The government reacted yesterday, Wednesday 12 June to criticism of the new street patrols made up of both police and military personnel.
Interviewed at the Presidential Palace, Minister of Interior and Police Jose Ramon Fadul said that the authorities are attacking crime from two main prongs: the reform of the National Police and an attack on factors that lead to crime, including social exclusion, drug dealing and youth unemployment. Fadul said that the government will be working on these issues but the problems that have existed for decades would not be solved overnight.
Earlier this week, criminologist Daniel Pou warned that the militarization could create a negative impression among visitors. National District prosecutor Yeni Berenice Reynoso said that experience in other countries where military personnel have been used for security patrols has not been positive.
www.diariolibre.com/noticias/2013/06/12/i388003_gobierno-defiende-patrullaje-mixto-responde-fiscal.html