In the framework of the 27th anniversary of the founding of the National Civil Police (PNC) and in the midst of various commemorative activities, President Bernardo Arévalo highlighted the security work that his Government has carried out in the last six months.
A police parade was held in the Historic Center and the group paid tribute to the president at the National Palace, where he shared the platform with the Minister of the Interior, Francisco Jimenez and the director of the PNC, David Custodio Boteo.
Arévalo made public statements in which he highlighted the role that the Police has played in the recent history of the country, since its founding in 1997, following the end of the armed conflict.
“It is an institution that has been fundamental in our democratic development. An institution that has protected Guatemalans for 27 years now.”he claimed.
The president acknowledged that the Police are currently far from the role that the previous National Police played; on the contrary, the current institution fulfills the objective of protecting citizens and fighting crime, far from repressing the civilian population.
“It was founded in 1997 as one of the pillars on which the peaceful coexistence of a society battered and wounded by 36 years of Internal Armed Conflict would rest. Of course, Guatemala has always had a police force, but the important distinction of the new Police was its civilian character.“A police force geared towards protecting citizens and combating crime. Not like before, when it was a force to protect an authoritarian state that, in a real or supposed way, challenged it,” said Arévalo.
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Pending tasks
During his speech, Arévalo also acknowledged that the Police still faces significant challenges and that they are working to overcome them.
The mandatary He identified negligence and corruption as two of the main problems of the police institution. In fact, Arévalo said, in other administrations there were attempts to exploit the PNC to obtain personal and political benefits.
“Naturally, the National Civil Police has encountered challenges along the way. The service vocation of agents and officers has faced the negligence and corruption of multiple previous governments that have tried to instrumentalize the Police for their own political and personal benefit,” the president said.
Furthermore, I continue: “Some authorities have made a mistake in their conception of security and have tried to return the National Civil Police to the repressive practices of the past.However, the decision taken 27 years ago to form an autonomous police force, at the service of the people, has borne fruit. Despite politically motivated errors and mistakes, the institutionality of the National Civil Police produces results and moves forward“.
At the other end of the spectrum, the President of the Republic highlighted the achievements of the Police, reflected in the annual homicide rate, which according to his statements, “is a third of what it was 15 years ago, considering population growth.”
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