Opinion Archive

What to Make of Gobernación

November 19, 2008

There is really no accurate translation of Gobernación. English-language media often refer to it as the "Interior", or "Government" Secretariat, but these names do not communicate the subtle meaning of this very Mexican institution (often called SEGOB). "Interior" conjures up visions of managing national parks, while "Government" is much too general. Formally, SEGOB is currently responsible for coordinating negotiations between the Executive and Legislative branches of government, "political development" (whatever that means), human rights, immigration, religious affairs, media oversight, and emergency response coordination ("Protección Civil"). It does none of these jobs very well.

In the days of the PRI there was a saying: "Gobernación should be felt, not seen". The head of SEGOB played "bad cop" to the president's "good cop". Because it has always had the power of "intelligence" (today through the CISEN, the spying arm of the government), old stories abound regarding secretive late-night meetings. There, the Secretary would intimidate governors and other high level officials by showing them their secret files. They would thus be cowed into the submission of the "Imperial Presidency", which lasted until 1997. Then the ruling party finally lost control of Congress and, three years later, the presidency.

Mexico's transition to democracy was interpreted by both President Zedillo and President Fox not in terms of "doing" (actively strengthening democratic institutions), but in terms of "not doing" (letting go of the reigns of power). SEGOB's evolution (some would say "dissolution") was in keeping with this distaste for the exercise of hard power. Gone were the days of direct media censorship and political blackmail. In line with this spirit, SEGOB lost its security apparatus, which was handed over to the Public Security Secretariat.

Gobernación became a "coordinating" entity. Having been a symbol of PRI-era oppression, President Fox's first head, Santiago Creel, was apologetic of his institution, even appearing to dislike the fact that it existed at all. The upshot was the perpetuation of conflicts. During his tenure, Secretary Creel was criticized for having over 1,000 official dialogues going on at the same time, with a small percentage reaching any sort of accepted conclusion. Mexico's weak judiciary means that there is no effective conflict resolution mechanism, so when SEGOB abdicated its responsibility to arbitrate, clashes between interest groups were left to fester. Endless demonstrations, vandalism, and persistent social blackmail are, today, consequences of SEGOB's self-neutering.

The last successful strongman to head SEGOB was Manuel Bartlett (1982-1988), who was also the final Secretary to last the full 6 year term of the presidency. The next president, Salinas, had three of them. President Zedillo had four, while Fox had to fire his rising star, Creel, after he was singularly unable to deal with Congress and after ignominously losing the legal battle to unseat López Obrador as Mayor of Mexico City. We are now on our third Secretary in the first three years of this sexenio and, while Secretary Gómez Mont might turn out to be the exception, the unfortunate fates of his eleven predecessors do not bode well.

There is no shortage of ideas with respect to a full reorganization of this very important government dependency. Some of the most interesting involve the evolution of its Secretary into a sort of Chief of Staff. Surprisingly, given the public outcry that originally separated SEGOB from its direct public security responsibilities, some people are asking that the Secretariat of Public Security (created just 8 years ago) be disbanded. Others, including many self-serving kleptocrats, want to do away with the intelligence arm of SEGOB, CISEN, presumably to debilitate an already weak Executive.

But, ultimately, Mexico's ruling class has to get over its distate of the unpleasant responsibility of governing. Democracy is a system that grants legitimacy and lends transparency to government. Governments need this legitimacy because their role is to make decisions that affect millions of people. Mexico's democratically elected governments need to believe in their own legitimacy so that they can put a stop to the destructive free-for-all that Mexican democracy has become. The country needs a proper system of rewards and punishments based on the rock-hard Rule of Law and Gobernación should lead that fight.

There is a sad parellel between the tragedy that took Secretary Mouriño's life and the current state of the dependency he led. Like flying in a Lear Jet, being the head of SEGOB is a privilege that offers a lot of prestige. But like the ill-fated plane, it only takes the violent cross-winds of a 767 (in SEGOB's case, a damaging strike, a bloody social conflict, or an angry opposition Mayor) to throw it into a tailspin.

For the latest thought-provoking article by Agustin Barrios Gomez please go to our Opinion Column page

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