Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, known as AMLO, has criticised the United States for recent comments that framed his proposed judicial overhaul as a “risk” to Mexico’s democracy.
In a morning press conference on Friday, Lopez Obrador described the criticism as “disrespectful” to Mexico’s “national sovereignty”.
“I hope this will not happen again,” he said.
The Mexican government also announced it would send a diplomatic note that says the US comments “represent an unacceptable interference, a violation of Mexico’s sovereignty”.
The government’s response came a day after US Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar warned the proposed judicial changes — which include putting judges up for election — could threaten “the historic commercial relationship” between the two countries.
“Democracies can’t function without a strong, independent and non-corrupt judicial branch,” Salazar told reporters.
He added that the proposed overhaul would “help cartels and other bad actors take advantage of inexperienced judges with political motivations” and “create turbulence” — both economically and politically — for years to come.
Salazar said on Friday that his comments, poorly received in a country where the US has a long history of interference in domestic affairs, were made in the “spirit of collaboration”.
“I am most willing to engage in dialogue with Mexico’s leadership on the direct election of judges and exchange views on different models,” the US ambassador said in a social media post explaining his position.
Lopez Obrador, a populist president often criticised for attacking independent regulatory agencies, has long been at odds with Mexico’s judicial branch.
He contends judges are part of a “mafia” that opposes him. He has framed his judicial overhaul as a means of cleaning up corruption in the courts.
Under his plan, the executive, legislative and judicial branches of the government could nominate virtually anyone with a law degree to serve as a judge.
Those individuals would then be vetted by special committees created by each branch to ensure they have the credentials needed to serve. Finally, the candidates would be put to a popular vote.
The judicial overhaul has yet to be approved: The country’s newly elected Congress will take office on September 1.
But Lopez Obrador is pushing the proposal as one of the final major goals of his presidency, which is limited to one six-year term. He is set to leave office on September 30, with his hand-picked successor, President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum, being inaugurated the following day.
Sheinbaum has defended the proposal, and the coalition led by Lopez Obrador’s Morena party holds a supermajority in the lower chamber of Congress.
A constitutional change is required for the judicial plan to be enacted, and that requires a two-thirds majority in both chambers.
But critics fear the changes are an attempt by Lopez Obrador to weaken the independence of the judiciary.
This week, federal court workers, judges and academics have gone on strike in protest of the judicial reforms, which they say would pave the way to stack courts with politically biased judges.
They also warned the judicial overhaul could hand the Morena party control of all three branches of government and deal a blow to checks and balances.
Julio Rios Figueroa, a law professor at the Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo de Mexico (ITAM) in Mexico City, told Al Jazeera reporter Joseph Stepansky earlier this week that the reforms could even destabilise the justice system.
Las preocupaciones que expresé sobre la elección directa de jueces son en espíritu de colaboración. Como socios, buscamos un diálogo honesto y abierto para seguir con el gran progreso democrático y económico que hemos alcanzado (Abro hilo 1/3).
— Embajador Ken Salazar (@USAmbMex) August 23, 2024
“It will create administrative chaos and uncertainty in many areas,” Rios Figueroa said. “It will also end judicial independence and judicial autonomy in Mexico.”
Salazar, the US ambassador, voiced similar concerns on Thursday, though he acknowledged the need to address corruption in the Mexican government.
“The direct election of judges represents a risk for the functioning of Mexico’s democracy, and the integration of the American, Mexican and Canadian economies,” he said on Thursday.
Canada’s Ambassador to Mexico Graeme Clark also criticised the judicial reform at an event on Thursday.
“My investors are concerned. They want stability. They want a judicial system that works if there are problems,” he said.
Clark, however, stipulated that the Canadian government and that of Mexico have “excellent relations” and he was only transmitting investors’ concerns.
