Mexico’s president-elect has underlined his vow of radical change by announcing that his “bodyguards” are to be unarmed men and women who will include doctors, lawyers and engineers.
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who takes office on 1 December, said that his security detail of ten men and ten women will receive some specialist training, “but not for the use of weapons”, according to ABC.
With political, gang and drug-related violence in Mexico at an all-time high, his unusual decision has been met with trepidation.
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There were “more fatal attacks on politicians during the last election campaign than in any other in recent history”, says Reuters.
Current President Enrique Pena Nieto has 2,000 armed presidential guards, comprising military personnel, police and civilians.
But Lopez Obrador, who won a landslide victory in last month’s election, says his own entourage will be more of an “assistantship” than a bodyguard corps. He said: “These women and men, and all Mexicans are going to take care of me. And when I talk about all the Mexicans, I’m talking about the soldiers, because the soldiers are the people.
“All Mexicans are going to take care of me, but there will not be this special [government] body to guarantee the protection of the president of the republic.”
The leftist future leader has promised a more austere administration, with plans to sell the presidential plane sold and turn the presidential Los Pinos palace into a cultural centre.
