Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador/AP
Mexico has become the only country in the world where all judges are elected by popular vote, not appointed.
Tens of thousands of people gathered in the largest square in Latin America, and possibly the world, covering more than 46,000 square meters — Constitution Square («Zócalo») in Mexico City. And it wasn’t just for Independence Day.
«This day is special because our president, who came to open the eyes and minds of people we couldn’t talk to because we had no one to support us, is leaving», Mexican media quoted one of the celebrants as saying.
That night in the Zócalo, Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) made his last appearance as president of Mexico. On October 1, the country’s first female president, also an AMLO project, Claudia Sheinbaum, will take office in the National Palace.
At the Zócalo, the president announced that he had signed a major judicial reform bill, and that all judges would now be elected by popular vote. López Obrador asked those who supported one of his most criticized initiatives — the sweeping judicial reform — to raise their hands.
The shouts of approval and the many hands raised were evidence of his widespread support.
During his six years in power, López Obrador was unable to change the country’s constitution to extend his rule for a second term. However, he was able to push through a radical judicial reform that was officially aimed at «fighting corruption» but unofficially prolonged his party’s hold on power.
After months of heated debate over the need for this reform, the ruling party MORENA (Movimiento Regeneración Nacional, Mexico’s ruling left-center party, whose name is similar to Mexico’s Catholic patron saint: Our Lady of Guadalupe, known as La Morena) and its allies managed to secure approval of the outgoing president’s brainchild in both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, as well as in most local legislatures, in just two weeks — a record time for lawmakers.
In protest, 55,000 employees of the justice system announced a national strike, the peso’s exchange rate fell with the «help» of the United States, and international banks issued dire warnings about the economic consequences of this decision, which was unfavorable to the north and west.
The reform involves the popular election of nearly 7,000 judges, magistrates and ministers. It will affect 11 Supreme Court judges, 1,635 federal judges and magistrates, and more than 5,700 state and local judges.
The reform reduces their term of office to 12 years, eliminates the minimum age requirement of 35, and halves the required work experience to five years. Judges will be able to work anonymously on cases involving organized crime. However, the election of judges does not guarantee the selection of corrupt and unprofessional lawyers.
The reform also provides for the creation of a five-member judicial disciplinary tribunal (for the more than 50,000 judges in the country?) to be elected by popular vote. This tribunal will be tasked with sanctioning judges, and its decisions will not be subject to appeal.
However, this reform will not affect military judges and those involved in land disputes or specific conflicts between administrative bodies and citizens.
In proposing his judicial reform plan, President López Obrador was right about one thing: for most people, the country’s justice system is not working.
According to surveys, nearly half of Mexicans have little or no confidence in the justice system. In about 90 percent of cases, people say that prosecutors do not even bother to investigate crimes (which is their duty in Mexico). In 2022, prosecutors initiated 2.2 million cases, but only just over 238,000 made it to court.
According to the organization Impunidad Cero, the rate of impunity and the ability to escape responsibility for crimes in Mexico is 99 percent (!). Most cases, even those of murder and grave human rights violations, are either dropped or archived as «cold cases» without investigation.
In Mexico, the main problem is that police and prosecutors are poorly trained and overworked. In addition, there is traditional corruption and nepotism-recent research shows that about 37 percent of judicial officials have at least one family member working in the court system.
The decision to directly elect judges has erected a new wall between the United States and Mexico. Why do Mexico’s transparent institutions of power bother America so much?
U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar strongly condemned the pending reform. «The direct election of judges poses a risk to the functioning of Mexican democracy and the integration of the U.S., Mexican and Canadian economies», Salazar said.
«The reform politicizes the judiciary and makes it more vulnerable to organized crime», he noted.
President Obrador called his statement «disrespectful to our national sovereignty» and announced a «pause» in diplomatic relations with the United States. A similar break occurred with Canada.
The United States and Canada account for about 86% of Mexico’s exports, and the entire «trio» is part of the North American Free Trade Agreement (USMCA), which replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that let China slip through its «nets» and thus doomed itself to oblivion.
As a result, the White House achieved Mexico’s replacement of China in the American and Canadian markets. U.S. businessmen rushed to explore the Mexican market. And now what — a setback?
The U.S. is accustomed to imposing its will on its southern «backyards». For it, a commercial-economic alternative for independent neighbors-less «democratic» and more «omnivorous», especially in relations with China and Russia (in this case, Mexico), open to strengthening ties with China in strategically important sectors-is a nightmare.
Faced with the decision on judicial reform, U.S. congressmen are nervous and calling for the USMCA to be taken care of. All because they fear losing their ability to corrupt an already corrupt Mexico.
Commentators on the social network X (formerly Twitter, blocked in Russia) believe that it is in the U.S. interest to continue fomenting corruption, because Americans need corrupt politicians and judges to sell out their country. In typical U.S. style, Mexico was immediately accused of «strengthening authoritarianism», turning into «Venezuela 2.0», and elected judges as «a direct path to dictatorship».
However, knowing Mexicans, I dare say that judicial reform will not prevent either American or domestic «political and business dealers» from achieving their goals through bribery.
López Obrador noted that for many years the United States has interfered in the affairs of the countries of the Americas, dictating policies on the continent, removing and appointing presidents, and invading other countries. He also recalled that Mexico was invaded twice and lost half of its territory. «Now it’s different», López Obrador promised as he left. Fresh memories. Let’s see what happens in six years.
And the first female president in Mexico’s history has already been predicted by American «seers» to become the world’s first «female dictator». Really?