''Federales'' (singular ''Federale'' or, rarely but aligning with Spanish, ''Federal'') is a

Spanglish Spanglish (a portmanteau of the words "Spanish" and "English") is any language variety (such as a contact dialect, hybrid language, pidgin, or creole language) that results from conversationally combining Spanish and English. The term is m ...

word used in an informal context to denote

security forces Security forces are statutory organizations with internal security mandates. In the legal context of several nations, the term has variously denoted police and military units working in concert, or the role of military and paramilitary forces (su ...

operating under a federal political system. The term gained widespread usage by English speakers due to popularization in such films as ''

The Wild Bunch ''The Wild Bunch'' is a 1969 American epic Revisionist Western film directed by Sam Peckinpah and starring William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Edmond O'Brien, Ben Johnson and Warren Oates. The plot concerns an aging outlaw ga ...

'', '' The Treasure of the Sierra Madre'', and ''

Blue Streak Blue Streak or Bluestreak may refer to: Entertainment * ''Blue Streak'' (album), a 1995 album by American blues guitarist Luther Allison * Blue Streak (comics), a secret identity used by three separate Marvel Comics supervillains * Bluestreak (co ...

'', and the television drama series ''

Breaking Bad ''Breaking Bad'' is an American crime drama television series created and produced by Vince Gilligan. Set and filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the series follows Walter White (Bryan Cranston), an underpaid, overqualified, and dispirited h ...

'' and its spinoff prequel ''

Better Call Saul ''Better Call Saul'' is an American crime and legal drama television series created by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould. Part of the ''Breaking Bad'' franchise, it is a spin-off of Gilligan's previous series, ''Breaking Bad'', and serves as a ...

''. The term is a cognate and counterpart to the slang " Feds" in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

Law enforcement

The term is traditionally used for certain

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

federal police agencies such as: The

Mexican Federal Police The Federal Police ( es, Policía Federal, PF), formerly known as the (Federal Preventive Police) and sometimes referred to in the U.S. as "Federales", was a Mexican national police force formed in 1999 and folded into the National Guard in 2019. ...

, and any of its predecessors * Federal Preventive Police/Policía Federal Preventiva, * Federal Highway Police/Policía Federal de Caminos, and * Federal Fiscal Police/Policía Fiscal Federal. The Federal Ministerial Police/Policía Federal Ministerial (PFM) and any of its predecessors: * Federal Investigations Agency/Agencia Federal de Investigación and the * Federal Judicial Police/Policía Judicial Federal.

Military

Historically, "Federales" was also the common term used for the regular

Mexican Army The Mexican Army ( es, Ejército Mexicano) is the combined land and air branch and is the largest part of the Mexican Armed Forces; it is also known as the National Defense Army. The Army is under the authority of the Secretariat of National ...

(or Federal Army), especially during the 34-year rule of

Porfirio Díaz José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori ( or ; ; 15 September 1830 – 2 July 1915), known as Porfirio Díaz, was a Mexican general and politician who served seven terms as President of Mexico, a total of 31 years, from 28 November 1876 to 6 Decem ...

until 1911. In part the expression served the purpose of distinguishing centrally controlled military units from provincial militias, or the rural mounted police (

rurales In Mexico, the term ''Rurales'' ( Spanish) is used in respect of two armed government forces. The historic Guardia Rural ('Rural Guard') was a rural mounted police force, founded by President Benito Juárez in 1861 and expanded by President Po ...

). Following Díaz's overthrow by rebel forces led by

Francisco Madero Francisco Ignacio Madero González (; 30 October 1873 – 22 February 1913) was a Mexican businessman, revolutionary, writer and statesman, who became the 37th president of Mexico from 1911 until he was deposed in a coup d'etat in February 1 ...

, the Federal Army remained in existence. The ''Federales'' were eventually disbanded in July and August 1914, after Madero's successor

Victoriano Huerta José Victoriano Huerta Márquez (; 22 December 1854 – 13 January 1916) was a general in the Mexican Federal Army and 39th President of Mexico, who came to power by coup against the democratically elected government of Francisco I. Madero wi ...

was in turn defeated by an alliance of revolutionary forces. The formal dissolution of the Federal Army was decreed by the Teoloyucan Treaties, signed on August 13.

References

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Law enforcement

Military

References

See also