Secretariat of National Defense (Mexico)
The Mexican Secretariat of National Defense (SEDENA); Spanish: Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional is the government department responsible for managing Mexico's Army and Air Forces. Its head is the Secretary of National Defense who, like the co-equal Secretary of the Navy, is directly answerable to the President.[1] Before 1937, the position was called the Secretary of War and of the Navy (Secretaría de Guerra y Marina). The agency has its headquarters in Lomas de Sotelo, Miguel Hidalgo, Mexico City.[2] Some key figures who answer directly to the Secretary are the Assistant Secretary, the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, and all military tribunals.
Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional (SEDENA) | |
Logo of the Mexican Secretariat of National Defense | |
Ministry of Defence overview | |
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Formed | 1821War and Navy Secretariat) | (As
Preceding Ministry of Defence |
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Jurisdiction | |
Headquarters | Boulevard Manuel Ávila Camacho S/N. Esq. Av. Ind. Mil. Col. Lomas de Sotelo; Deleg. Miguel Hidalgo Mexico City, 11200 19°26′25″N 99°12′57″W |
Minister responsible |
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Parent department | President of Mexico |
Child agencies | |
Website | www.gob.mx/sedena |
Under the Federal Public Administration Act (Ley Orgánica de la Administración Pública Federal), the Secretary has the following duties:
- Organize, administer and prepare the Army and the Air Force.
- Organize and prepare the National Military Service.
- Management of the Army, Air Force, National Guard and armed contingents which don't belong to state's national guard.
- Plan, direct and handle mobilization of the country in the event of war; formulating and executing, in due case, plans and orders necessary to the country defense, as well as directing and advising civil defense.
- Construct and prepare the forts and all kind of military buildings for Army and Air Force use, as well as administration of barracks, hospitals and other military buildings.
- Administer military justice.
- Acquire and build armaments, ammunition, and all kinds of materials and elements for the use of Army and Air Force.
- Grant permission for an expedition force to enter another country or to allow another country to send their forces to Mexico.
- Manage the issuing of licenses to bear firearms with the aim of preventing the use of arms expressly banned in law and also those types of arms restricted by the state for the exclusive use of the Army, Navy and National Guard, with the exception of what is established by the 13th section of Article 30 of the Constitution, as well as the supervision and issuing of permits for the sale, transport and storage of firearms, chemical weapons, explosives and strategic weapons.
List of secretaries
No. | Name | Took office | Left office | Time in office | President | |
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1 | Pablo Quiroga Escamilla (1875–1948) | General de brigada1934 | 15 June 1935 | 0–1 years | Lázaro Cárdenas del Río | |
2 | Andrés Figueroa Figueroa (1884–1936) | 16 June 1935 | 17 October 1936 † | 1 year, 123 days | Lázaro Cárdenas del Río | |
3 | Manuel Ávila Camacho (1897–1955) | Brigadier General18 October 1936 | 31 January 1939 | 2 years, 105 days | Lázaro Cárdenas del Río | |
4 | Jesús Agustín Castro (1887–1953) | General de División1 February 1939 | 30 November 1940 | 1 year, 303 days | Lázaro Cárdenas del Río | |
5 | Jesús Agustín Castro (1891–1975) | 1 December 1940 | 31 August 1942 | 1 year, 273 days | Manuel Ávila Camacho | |
6 | Lázaro Cárdenas (1895–1970) | General de División1 September 1942 | 31 August 1945 | 2 years, 364 days | Manuel Ávila Camacho | |
7 | Francisco L. Urquizo (1891–1969) | General de División1 September 1945 | 30 November 1946 | 1 year, 90 days | Manuel Ávila Camacho | |
8 | Gilberto R. Limón (1891–1988) | 1 December 1946 | 30 November 1952 | 5 years, 365 days | Miguel Alemán | |
9 | Matías Ramos (1891–1962) | General de División1 December 1952 | 30 November 1958 | 5 years, 365 days | Adolfo Ruiz Cortines | |
10 | Agustín Olachea (1890–1974) | General de División1 December 1958 | 30 November 1964 | 5 years, 365 days | Adolfo López Mateos | |
11 | Marcelino García Barragan (1895–1979) | General de División1 December 1964 | 30 November 1970 | 5 years, 364 days | Gustavo Díaz Ordaz | |
12 | Hermenegildo Cuenca Díaz (1902–1977) | 1 December 1970 | 30 November 1976 | 5 years, 365 days | Luis Echeverría Álvarez | |
13 | Félix Galván López (1913–1988) | General de División1 December 1976 | 30 November 1982 | 5 years, 364 days | José López Portillo | |
14 | Juan Arévalo Gardoqui (1921–2000) | General de División1 December 1982 | 30 November 1988 | 5 years, 365 days | Miguel de la Madrid Hurtado | |
15 | Antonio Riviello Bazán (1926–2017) | General de División1 December 1988 | 30 November 1994 | 6 years, 0 days | Carlos Salinas de Gortari | |
16 | Enrique Cervantes Aguirre (born 1935) | General de División1 December 1994 | 30 November 2000 | 6 years, 0 days | Ernesto Zedillo | |
17 | Gerardo Clemente Vega (born 1940) | General de División1 December 2000 | 30 November 2006 | 6 years, 0 days | Vicente Fox | |
18 | Guillermo Galván Galván (born 1943) | General de División1 December 2006 | 30 November 2012 | 6 years, 0 days | Felipe Calderón | |
19 | Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda (born 1948) | General Secretario1 December 2012 | 30 November 2018 | 6 years, 0 days | Enrique Peña Nieto | |
20 | Luis Cresencio Sandoval (born 1960) [3] | General de División1 December 2018 | Incumbent | 1 year, 259 days | Andrés Manuel López Obrador |
See also
- Museo del Enervante - a Sedena museum dedicated to those who have fought drug trafficking in Mexico.
- Zuyaqui - a famous dog who worked for the agency.
Sources
- Mexico's Federal Organic Law of Public AdministrationLey Orgánica de la Administración Pública Federal, Article 29 Archived 2006-06-15 at the Wayback Machine
- "Home." Secretariat of National Defense. Retrieved on February 15, 2011. "Blvd. Manuel Ávila Camacho S/N. Esq. Av. Ind. Mil., Col. Lomas de Sotelo; Deleg. Miguel Hidalgo, D.F. C.P. 11640."
- "Quien es el Gral. Luis C. Sandoval, proximo Secretario de Defensa" [Who is Gen. Luis C. Sandoval, next Secretary of Defense?], El Universal (in Spanish), Mexico City, October 22, 2018, retrieved June 24, 2019