David Perez Esparzadirector of National Information Center (CNI), presented his resignation from the position as of April 30. However, to date the President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador He has not accepted the resignation.
interviewed by The Economistthe security official who has remained in the current federal government for the longest time, stated that his possible departure is because the “rules of the game” in the federal government have changed since he took office in January 2019, and stressed that in the midst of the security crisis in the country, there is no certainty about the leadership that will be in charge of the Secretary of Security and Citizen Protectionon which the CNI depends.
The foregoing, since the head of said secretariat, Rosa Icela Rodriguezcould leave the post in the coming months, the same as Clara Luz Flores CarralesExecutive Secretary of the National Public Security System, both to seek a nomination by Morena for a popularly elected position.
Pérez Esparza said that although his hierarchical superiors informed him that President López Obrador required his position, he has doubts that this is the case, since to date the president has not accepted the resignation.
It should be noted that, in the event that the President accepts the resignation of Pérez Esparza, Pablo Gonzalez Garciacurrent assistant secretary of the SNSP and former private secretary of the former governor of Nuevo León, Natividad González Parás, could head the CNI.
David Pérez Esparza was invited to the federal government by President López Obrador, and took office together with the then Secretary of Security and current Governor of Sonora, Alfonso Durazoand the undersecretary Ricardo Mejianow a PT candidate for the government of Coahuila.
Since taking office in January 2019, Pérez Esparza has spearheaded the creation of the National Detention Registry; the modernization of Plataforma México, the Approved Police Report and the National Model of Police and Civic Justice; the implementation of the emergency number 911 and 089 for anonymous reporting. He also the integration of the new National Registry of Alternative Dispute Mechanisms, the new Alternative Mechanism for Civic Justice, as well as the Federal Registry of Firearms and Explosives Control, among other matters.
Why your decision to leave the CNI?
“The CNI has 75 priority areas, it is the National Center with the greatest powers; It is a presidential appointment center, the most important of the SESNSP, so it is a strategic position. I arrived in the transition (in 2018) and then he was invited by several key players, including the President; I support Durazo in the transition and then the President entrusts me to take charge of the CNI from January 1, 2019. I am the official who has lasted the longest on security issues, the youngest too. The only one who had security studies.
“Many people believe that crime incidence is all we do. In addition, we are in charge of implementing the National Model of Police and Civic Justice; we are the biggest promoters that the municipal police can investigate; I had to coordinate everything that has to do with video surveillance; drone database; I had to break the monopoly on police radio communication.
“I am leaving very happy, very happy, because we left behind a buoyant, successful center. It seems to me that it transformed the reality of the police and public security, perhaps not as we should, because I believe that it is always necessary to recognize that more can be done, but we had to participate in reform initiatives, the creation of the National Guard, the reform to C4 and C5; to the operational reason of the police; the indicators for the improvement of police management in the multi-source methodology, many topics.
“We left this at the end of April, a bit bittersweet, but hey, that’s the way things are, and from what I understand it is a request from the President. I have my doubts that this is the case, I rather think that it is like a broken phone, but in any case what is a fact is that I already need new air, new oxygen, I am from Monterrey and I have various professional, personal, academic, business, and I would retire there for a while.
So they asked you to resign?
“Somehow yes, it was a little consensual, on good terms, but they haven’t tried it on me yet. The President has to approve it along with various Secretaries and Undersecretaries; It is not clear to me that they have already accepted it, I think not. So that little detail is still missing.”
If the President does not accept your resignation, do you stay?
“We would have to see, because I don’t know if the team we have right now is the one we need. You have to see, because -for example- I have two bosses, one is Rosa Icela and the other Clara Luz, both are probably going to leave their posts very soon. One will probably compete for a federal deputy in Nuevo León and the other will probably compete for a federal deputy, a senate or the Head of Government.
“In any case, they would have to leave in three or four months, very soon. I don’t know if they are going to want to reinvent the wheel again in four months. I have the fortune, or the lack of fortune, I don’t know, to be here since the transition. He already left, Durazo was already governor; Mejía is already a candidate; (Luis Rodríguez) Bucio is already Undersecretary; A thousand things have happened, and the only one that has remained stable is me. There are very few of us who have been since the transition. Then the President will make the decision of what to do.”
What would have to happen for you to agree to stay?
“I would have to speak with the President and rethink the rules of the game. The relationship I have with him is one of infinite respect and gratitude. Professionally we have always been very frontal and direct, we have many similarities, and also many differences, we are from different generations, from different states. I am an academic involved in public administration issues, an international consultant, I am not a deeply rooted social leader, I have never competed in an election, but I believe that with a good relationship, respect and communication, we have gotten along well.
What would you ask the President?
“I believe that rethinking the rules of the game, the rules now are no longer the same, the people are no longer the same, so a large part of the challenges I have had is because my bosses have changed so much, and I have not. So I think the rules should be reconsidered.
What do you mean by rethinking the rules of the game?
“Clarity of ideas, what are we going to do, how are we going to do it, what the rules of the game would be, who stays, who leaves, because I need to know who my bosses are, how long they are going to last, especially since it is going to shut down the government (next year).”
What do you think of the current Secretariat team?
“It’s really a new team, I think it’s worn out a lot. It comes at a very complex moment for the reality of the country. I worked with four or five bosses, the only one who is stable is the President, who is my real boss, let’s say, the other bosses are verbal, but my boss is the President because he is the one who can withdraw my appointment. And I tell you, I don’t know if the President will agree; they (his bosses) promised me that he did agree, but I don’t know; there is still a chance that the President will say no.”
As a reflection, what does the Secretariat and the CNI require in these moments of insecurity in the country?
“Basically, it needs serious technical leadership that allows progress with the country’s main challenges. I think we don’t require political leadership, I would worry if we went with exactly political leadership. What we need is a technical area. The CNI is the technical area of the Mexican State. Clearly, you need a person who has the ability to plan, to process, to know statistics, information technology, who knows how to program, who doesn’t fool you when buying software, it’s a very technical picture. It is the highest technical staff that the Mexican State has, that is, there is nothing higher than this position. That is why I think it is very important that whoever arrives is not a politician and we do need a person with a high technical level who has specialties in intelligence. Unfortunately, there are not many cadres like this in the country, who are also willing to face such a strong challenge in terms of austerity, without resources and with not so high a salary, right?
So the CNI structure is not what is needed?
“No, the truth is that no, but that is not only a matter of the Federal Public Administration, but also municipal and state. The CNI should be 10 times larger. It is one of the few centers that has received more and more attributions, and their income has not increased, so it is not a minor issue, really. Also, it is not a government issue, it is a transversal problem of a country like Mexico that grew and continues to grow in population in a very important way, and that its resources have not grown in the same way, but it is not a problem of the Secretariat or the federal government, it is a structural problem, but it is not an exclusive problem for us, but rather a Latin American one”.
Any final message or thought?
“I am very grateful to the President, to my boss, to everything we have achieved. It has been the greatest professional challenge, with everything we have achieved; It has been the biggest challenge, because we had a pandemic, several colleagues died, and I would do it again ”, he concluded.
David Pérez Esparza is an Internationalist and has a postgraduate degree in Future Studies and Prospective Planning, both from the Tecnológico de Monterrey (ITESM). He has four postgraduate degrees, including an MS in Security from the University of London in the UK; a master’s degree in Public Policy from the Graduate School of Governance. He also has a degree in Economics (Statistics, Game Theory and Conflict Resolution), from the University of Essex, UK. He received a PhD in Crime Science from the Jill Dando Institute of Security and Criminal Science, in the Faculty of Engineering, University College London (UCL).
