In the hands of the military, the prerogatives of the presidential family

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador disbanded the Presidential General Staff (EMP) but retained the military’s privileged use of the military for himself and his family. Aircraft, ships, military facilities and armed personnel are still used by the presidential family, but to a lesser extent than in previous administrations.

While his wife, Beatriz Gutiérrez Müller, has extensive access to these resources, the president himself has health problems that require more care from the military, so much so that during the covid-19 pandemic the Central Military Hospital (HCM) had to set up an intensive care unit in the palace.

Several military reports leaked by Guacamaya Leaks reviewed by Proceso also report that the president’s family members received specialized care at the HCM, including his son, Jesús Ernesto López Gutiérrez, and the surgery performed on his son, Andrés Manuel López Beltrán, who received family custody from military medical and nursing staff.

The partner of Andrés López Beltrán and relatives of Gutiérrez Müller were also treated by military doctors during the Covid-19 pandemic.

López Obrador’s wife has self-deprived herself of first lady status, enjoying military protection and resources, even on her private and leisure trips, such as her June 2022 trip to the beaches of Puerto Vallarta.

With the support of the Army and Navy, he spent a week of vacation at the Grupo Vidanta facility, owned by Daniel Chávez Morán, a friend of the President, who has consolidated his tourist emporium during the current administration ( Proceso , p. 2364).

The physical therapy that the President and his wife receive is also provided by the Army Special Forces, either at the National Palace or at an address requested by Gutierrez Muller. Everything is credited to the National Treasury.

The Presidential General Staff has ample operational resources. According to López Obrador himself, the budget for 2018 is 2 billion pesos. This military institution became a large autonomous group of the Army and was responsible for the care and security of the President and his family during the PRI regime. Now, these functions are performed by the Special Services Group of the Military Police.

López Obrador insists that “the people” are the ones who take care of him. Even in a morning meeting on October 2, 2023, he said about the disappearance of the EMP: “The Presidential General Staff has so much power that they almost kidnap the president. The president is going somewhere and he is surrounded; I am talking to someone and they are always there. They feel superior, it is an elite institution, they feel more important than members of the Ministry of Defense because the Chief of the General Staff is said to be closer to the president and has more influence.

“But if that’s not enough, imagine that eight thousand people came to take care of the president. Now I have 15 young colleagues taking care of me.

“What do they take care of me for?

“Well, they don’t crush me, they don’t pull me so much when taking photos, they don’t pull my neck, all because they are not security guards, they are there to help me during the incident.

“And, because the senior officers were loyal to the president, when I came in, I was instructed to have the general staff disappear.”

However, according to the Guacamaya Leaks, López Obrador’s every move throughout the country and his security are completely in the hands of the Army. All his movements, as well as those of his wife and children, report directly to Sedna leader General Luis Crescencio Sandoval.

The Special Services Group maintains contact with the Territorial Command, the General Staff Headquarters at Sedna, and the Deputy Headquarters, in addition to permanent coordination with the Office of the Assistant to the President, each time the President leaves office.

The Special Service Group’s operational directives reported from the first year of the López Obrador administration the participation of military escorts, commanders and command groups under the care of the president.

The protection personnel include officers and leaders of the army’s infantry, cavalry and armored forces. A military escort with armored vehicles is also arranged to protect the safety of his family.

At the beginning of his administration, López Obrador took commercial flights to show the public his austerity policies and that he did not use the state treasury for his own security. Reports show that on these flights he was protected by military police whose tickets were paid for with public resources.

Chiefs, officers, troops and medical personnel took care of López Obrador, his wife and young son during the trip, equipped with short and long weapons and traveling in vehicles owned and rented by the President of the Republic. The military police’s services are part of the assistant, protection and care functions at the service of the President.

The soldiers who take care of López Obrador and his family operate through identification codes of members of the three powers of the state, including the entire presidential cabinet, as well as transfers, locations, information, air, land and sea support, weapons, service ambulances and actions in unexpected situations such as incidents, attacks, blockades or explosions.

One of the beneficiaries of the gendarmerie’s services is the head of presidential aide and confidant Daniel Asaf Manjarrez, a businessman in question who was nominated for several councillors in Morena in the last elections on June 2.

In October 2020, the Special Service informed General Sandoval’s personal secretary that a “third step training course” would be provided to López Obrador’s assistant “civilian personnel” at the Sedna Specialized Training Center in January next year, and asked the Army chief to indicate that this training could also be provided to members of his team “through the performance of similar functions and coordination with the aforementioned assistant office.”

The request was signed by Marco Antonio Palomares Sánchez, then a lieutenant colonel of the infantry with a diploma from the General Staff, who was listed in the document as the person responsible for the security of the president and his family and liaison with Sedna. In November 2021, he was promoted to colonel of the army.

The functions of the special service include assistant duties, advance duties for the president and his wife on foreign trips, care and tracking (personnel in civilian clothes are permanently stationed), and officers and troops participate. Unlike the EMP, there are no army generals in the EMP, nor so many people serving and caring for the president.

Among these missions, weapons provided by the Special Military Police Agency in the first year of the government included SIG Sauer pistols of different calibers, personal defense weapons such as P-90 rifles, and the latest models of civilian vehicles.

Presidential Health

The life of the president is literally in the hands of Army specialists. To avoid risks and be able to respond to emergencies, the Military Police Special Service maintains permanent contact with the Central Military Hospital during López Obrador’s travels, with support from the health services of the various military regions.

The year 2021 is particularly fragile for the health of the presidents. Their chronic illnesses, mainly heart disease, forced them to take extraordinary measures during the pandemic, when mortality was ravaging the population.

In January of that year, when the Mexicans ran short of oxygen tanks, their civilian and military doctors decided to set up an intensive care unit in the palace.

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Excerpts from the main report published in the magazine’s issue 0013 processcorresponding to July 2024, a digital copy of which is available at This link.