The businessmen of Puerto Vallarta agree that the Mexican Army should not continue in the streets and what should be done is to strengthen local police and security.
After the Senate of Mexico approved extending the permanence of the Armed Forces in public security tasks until 2028, business leaders gave their opinion on the matter and agreed that it is not good for them to remain on the streets for so long and even less so in a tourist destination such as Puerto Vallarta, because an image of insecurity is generated.
“In certain conflicts that have been generated, the army in the streets gives confidence, but it is not good that it is permanent, because we are a tourist town and its presence generates an apparent insecurity, it announces that the city is really not well,” said Arnulfo Ortega, president of the Business Coordinating Council of Puerto Vallarta.
The armed forces have their work, they have their mission, added the businessman, who said he believed that it is not good that the presence of the Armed Forces in the streets is extended for so long.
“I think it must have been temporary (…) The army is there to defend the homeland, not to be escorting the streets,” he added.
The local president of Coparmex, Juan Pablo Martínez, described the Senate’s decision as blown up here.
“The armed forces have a specific function as such, which is established in the Constitution. The National Guard, from my point of view, should have been a civilian command.
In that sense, Coparmex has been very emphatic, even at the national level we mark our position. And we are going to be very attentive now that this reform has passed to the Chamber of Deputies, to observe the modifications that are going to be made to it, he detailed.
Likewise, he also agreed with Arnulgo Ortega that the presence of the Army in the streets of the city generates a double effect, that of security, but also of insecurity.
“Puerto Vallarta is definitely a tourist destination whose greatest strength is the high sense of security that tourists and citizens have been expressing.
Without a doubt, the issue of security is very important for a tourist destination like Puerto Vallarta and, in this sense, we are going to maintain constant communication with the three orders of government because, in the end, the sense of security that we give to citizens and to the visitors, it is a guarantee so that we continue to have the benefit of them continuing to visit us”, he pointed out.
Most tourists in Puerto Vallarta are not used to seeing men in military tactical gear carrying long guns in the street, so for many foreigners, the sight can be unsettling.
The businessmen of Puerto Vallarta agree that the Mexican Army should not continue in the streets and what should be done is to strengthen . . .
