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MEXICO CITY (AP) \u2014 Mexico\u2019s president acknowledged Tuesday that the armed forces have taken over yet another civilian role: fixing the nation\u2019s highways.<\/p>\n
Filling potholes has now been added to a long list of projects ranging from planes, trains and policing that the armed forces now control<\/a>.<\/p>\n President Andr\u00e9s Manuel L\u00f3pez Obrador<\/a> said highway maintenance in southern Mexico had been transferred away from the government’s Transportation Department.<\/p>\n The department usually gave private companies contracts for road maintenance but L\u00f3pez Obrador claimed those contracts were too expensive and riddled with corruption.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are very few serious construction companies, because they were all rotten with corruption,\u201d the president said.<\/p>\n L\u00f3pez Obrador has given the armed forces the leading role in law enforcement, including the quasi-military National Guard, and entrusted them with far more duties than his predecessors.<\/p>\n Late last year, L\u00f3pez Obrador put the army in charge of the government’s new state-owned airline<\/a>. He also said the army would run a passenger train service, in addition to building everything from bank offices to airports.<\/p>\n L\u00f3pez Obrador claims the military is more honest and efficient.<\/p>\n Unlike many militaries in Latin America, Mexico’s armed forces have for almost a century kept out of politics and avoided taking a leading, public role.<\/p>\n Critics say L\u00f3pez Obrador’s measures threaten to break that tradition and militarize the country.<\/p>\n ____<\/p>\n Follow AP\u2019s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/latin-america<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n