More money, less surveillance; spending on private security increases in Mexico City, but museums are closing.

MEXICO CITY (apro).- More will be spent in 2025... and yet, museums are still closed.

While the cultural venues of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) in Mexico City are closing due to a lack of security personnel, the city government continues to allocate billions of pesos to contracted security services, without resulting in increased coverage, according to an analysis by Proceso .

For 2025, the local Congress approved a budget of 13.5 billion pesos for the Auxiliary Police and 7.5 billion for the Banking and Industrial Police, corporations responsible for providing surveillance of public spaces such as the capital's museums.

Overall, more than 21 billion pesos, representing a 6% increase compared to the amount spent in 2024, according to the Public Accounts.

In fact, each year more budget has been allocated to these corporations. In 2024, total spending on contracted security services was 19.6 billion pesos; 12.5 billion for the Auxiliary Police, which represented a 6% increase compared to 2023; and 7 billion for the Banking Police, a 5% increase compared to the previous year.

All of this is happening while, at the same time, the capital's public museums began June with their doors closed, as Proceso documented during a tour of historic sites in Coyoacán and the city center. The reason, according to the INAH itself, was a lack of security.

Despite the budget increase, the revenue generated by these corporations has shown a sustained decline. And with the INAH's decision to turn to private companies to provide surveillance coverage, the impact on the capital's finances could be even greater.

In 2023, the Auxiliary Police reported revenues of 9 billion pesos; in 2024, that figure fell to 7.4 billion, a 17% decrease, according to the Public Accounts.

In the case of the Banking and Industrial Police, the drop was more drastic, from 7.5 billion pesos in 2023 to just 4.5 billion in 2024, equivalent to a 40% contraction.

Overall, 12 billion pesos were collected in 2024, compared to a total expenditure of 19.6 billion. The deficit exceeds 7.6 billion.