Big Announcement – We’re publishing a book on México’s Military.
Webcast coming on Sept 25 – find out how to help us with the bi-national tour

U.S.-México Future: Peace and Independence or Militarism and Domination?
📅 Thursday, September 25 at 4pm PT / 5pm CDMX / 7pm ET
Register here.

Big Announcement – We’re publishing a book on México’s Military

The book is called Crossing the Line: The Armed Forces in México, and will be published in México this October by Penguin Random House. The book – almost three years in the making – is focused on the last twenty-five years, a period marked by a dramatic growth in the power and visibility of México’s armed forces under administrations from three different political parties. As the introduction to Crossing the Line says, the book seeks to “raise—and answer—fundamental questions about their current structure and what needs to change,” with the goal being to “inspire dialogue and pave the way for transformative change.”

Crossing the Line is a fruit of the 2023 Peace Summit in México City where Global Exchange and allies from across the continent convened 300+ community leaders and civil society organizations from México, the U.S., and beyond (Colombia, Honduras, Haiti, Canada) to form the PMPJ — a cross-border movement to denounce injustice and drive community-led solutions to the growing inequality, violence, and human and migrant rights crises that impact our region. That Summit also commissioned a team to investigate and write Crossing the Line, to chronicle the evolution of México’s Armed Forces since the dawn of the 21st Century.

Crossing the Line is inspired by an earlier book, Always Near, Always Far: The Armed Forces in México, that Global Exchange published with Mexican allies 25 years ago. Then (as now) that book sought “to encourage a wide-ranging discussion of the problem of militarism and the threat it poses to democracy.”

Always Near, Always Far was headlined by two dissident Mexican Generals. One of them, Brigadier General (former Congressman) Samuel Lara Villa, with 32 years of military service, condemned what he described as “a corrupt and inept [PRI] regime linked to narcotraffic and with a propensity to guarantee impunity to its own lawbreaking functionaries.” In response to what he described as the Mexican military’s growing subservience to U.S. national security priorities, General Lara Villa called on “loyal Mexican soldiers” to question “the authority of an institution that had deviated from its constitutionally assigned function” to defend Mexican national and territorial sovereignty.

The other dissenting General who contributed to Always Near, Always Far was Mexican patriot (and political prisoner) Brigadier General Francisco Gallardo Rodríguez. He wrote from his cell in a military prison where he was serving a 28-year jail sentence – imposed by a military tribunal that allowed no civilian review – for the “crime” of publishing his graduate thesis that called for an ombudsman to oversee Army commanders in financial, legal, and human rights matters.

Both of these Generals have died since we published Always Near, Always Far, but two of their co-contributors from the year 2000 — Jorge Luis Sierra, journalist and specialist in military affairs, as well as Federico Anaya Gallardo, human rights lawyer and legal consultant — wrote chapters in Crossing the Line as well.

We’ve invited both Jorge Luis and Federico Anaya to join us for an upcoming pre-publication webcast. They will be joined by another key contributor to the book, Laura Carlsen. Laura is JASS Coordinator of Knowledge and Global Solidarity and director of the independent think tank Mira: Feminisms and Democracies. She is a Mexican/U.S. citizen, feminist activist, political analyst, journalist, and mother.

You are cordially invited.

Webcast coming on Sept 25 – find out how to help us with the bi-national tour

U.S.-México Future: Peace and Independence or Militarism and Domination?
A pre-publication webcast introducing Crossing the Line: The Armed Forces in México

📅 Thursday, September 25 at 4pm PT / 5pm CDMX / 7pm ET
Register here.

Speakers

  • Jorge Luis Sierra — journalist and specialist in military affairs; Director, Border Network of Journalists and Bloggers
  • Federico Anaya Gallardo — human rights lawyer and legal advisor to many institutions including México’s Senate
  • Laura Carlsen — JASS Coordinator of Knowledge and Global Solidarity and director of the independent think tank Mira: Feminisms and Democracies. She is a Mexican/U.S. citizen, feminist activist, political analyst, journalist, and mother

Moderator

  • Ted Lewis — Global Exchange Co-Executive Director and one of the editorial coordinators of Crossing the Line

Why This Conversation Matters

This pre-publication webcast by contributors to Crossing the Line will provide a window on México’s security challenges from a unique group of scholars who are both fierce defenders of México’s sovereignty as well as honest, insightful critics of its military. And they won’t avoid the hard questions. All of them are serious about reducing violence and, as the book’s introduction makes explicit: “none shy away from uncomfortable truths, such as the military’s role in drug trafficking, torture, forced disappearances, massacres, and extrajudicial killings.”

Topics on the Table

And, just as the book covers looks at the evolution of Mexico’s military during the four Mexican presidencies from 2000-2024, so will our panelists.  Vicente Fox and the Merida Initiative; Felipe Calderon and the explosive growth of drug war violence; Enrique Peña Nieto with crimes and cover-up like the 43 disappeared students at Ayotzinapa; Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador who consolidated a new national guard and oversaw a major expansion of the military’s role in public life.  All of these topics will be on the table, but we will emphasize the challenge Claudia Sheinbaum faces and what she is/isn’t doing to promote a healthy relationship between Mexican Society and its Armed Forces – even as she manages an unpredictable and tyrannical leader on her northern border. 

What’s Next

This webcast will be the first of many events aimed at promoting Crossing the Line. We will be going to book fairs, universities, and community centers around México. Early next year we will be organizing tours in the United States, and with your help can bring our authors and their important perspectives to an event in your town, school, or organization.