AMLO warns ‘disrespectful’ US ambassador not to interfere in Mexico – BNN Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) — Washington’s ambassador to Mexico acted disrespectfully by criticizing the country’s plans to reform the judiciary, President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador said.

Mexico will not accept foreign interference in its affairs, Lopez Obrador said, after Ambassador Ken Salazar warned that the government’s proposal to elect judges poses a threat to the country’s democracy.

“In recent times there have been acts of disrespect, such as this unfortunate and imprudent statement by Ambassador Ken Salazar yesterday, and a diplomatic letter of condemnation has already been issued,” Lopez Obrador said during his daily press conference on Friday.

On Thursday, Salazar said drug cartels could more easily infiltrate Mexico’s judiciary if a plan to have all judges elected by popular vote is approved. This is the main goal of Lopez Obrador’s judicial reform proposal currently under discussion in Congress.

Salazar also said the reform could undermine confidence in Mexico’s justice system and jeopardize trade ties.

AMLO, as the Mexican president is known, rejected these arguments, saying the reform will prevent organized crime from dominating the judiciary.

“If judges are elected, as we propose, we can purify the judiciary of corruption, and these judges will know that they represent the people, the nation, and that their function is to provide justice,” Lopez Obrador said.