Ambassador warns of drug cartels’ risks to Mexican judiciary under AMLO law

(Bloomberg) — Drug cartels could more easily infiltrate Mexico’s judiciary if a plan to elect judges by popular vote is approved, a senior U.S. official says.

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The proposal, the main objective of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s judicial reform, poses a “grave risk” to the functioning of democracy in the country, said Ken Salazar, the U.S. ambassador to Mexico.

Salazar said Mexico’s judiciary needs capable judges to manage complex cases involving extradition or trade disputes. However, the reform proposal would relax the requirements in terms of qualifications and experience needed to serve at all levels of the judiciary, he said.

“Direct elections would also make it easier for cartels and other bad actors to take advantage of politically motivated and inexperienced judges,” he said in a statement released on Thursday.

Lopez Obrador, better known as AMLO, has said that popular election of judges would reduce corruption in the judiciary and prevent it from putting business interests above the public interest. Salazar acknowledged Mexico’s efforts to stamp out judicial corruption but said popular election of judges would not solve the problem.

The reform would also threaten U.S.-Mexico trade relations, which depend on investor confidence in Mexico’s legal system, Salazar said.

“It would also weaken efforts to achieve North American economic integration and create unrest as the debate over direct elections continues for years to come,” he said.

Constitutional amendment

The reform will be discussed next week in the lower house constitutional committee, the first step toward debate in both houses of Congress in September. Because it would change the constitution, the reform would need the support of a two-thirds majority in Congress.

The ruling Morena party and its allies won a supermajority in the lower house and fell just three seats short of also getting two-thirds of the vote in the Senate in this year’s elections.

Earlier on Thursday, President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum said that if the reform is approved, the president will not appoint any Supreme Court justices, because expert committees will assess the suitability of candidates before the popular vote. She denied that the reforms would result in justices aligned with the government.

Canadian Ambassador to Mexico Graeme Clark said in a separate interview with EFE that Canadian investors had also expressed concerns about the bill, saying it would undermine the “relationship of trust” they have with the country.

(Updates with comments from Canadian Ambassador in 10th paragraph)