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Governor says additional security support needed to accommodate state’s floating population

Riviera Maya, Q.R. — Quintana Roo governor Carlos Joaquin is asking for the support necessary to face insecurity around the state. Joaquin says that to strengthen the security of Quintana Roo, federal support is required and needs to take into account the floating population.

Joaquin says that currently, all criteria including budgetary, are established based on the state’s population, which is just over 1.8 million residents. He says that what the federation does not take into consideration is the floating population or tourists.

They need to take this into consideration “in order to send us the appropriate number of troops,” said Governor Joaquín adding that currently, the the number of elements is insufficient because the floating population is not being taken into account”

“Every day we have between 250,000 and 300,000 extra people, in addition to our residents, who also require security and other services, but who are currently not considered,” he explained.

He pointed out that last week, during a meeting with the Secretary of National Defense, Luis Crescencio Sandoval González, he raised this situation with him. Joaquín even said that it was important to remind the head of Sedena of the initial agreements between that agency and the state.

“The state built the base of what was the Military Police which today, is the National Guard. It was a very important investment and we have to seek to recover those agreements, to carry them forward and thereby, cover more territory especially in the coastal areas with more municipal, state and federal elements,” he pointed out.

He says “things seem to be on the right track” referring to the recent addition of 400 National Guard elements last month.

Today, we have more than 2,200 surveillance cameras in Cancun, while in 2016, there were 128 in Cancun of which less than 10 percent were working,” he mentioned.

“There is certainly a breakthrough in local efforts. We are not simply reaching out to ask for more National Guard elements or more help, but rather that we move with security forces at the same rate of growth as the state,” he said.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is in Cancun today and is expected to meet with state officials to discuss insecurity matters.