Mexico breaks diplomatic ties with US over conflict over justice overhaul – DNyuz

For months, tensions have been mounting in Mexico over the president’s sweeping plans to overhaul the judiciary, straining diplomatic relations with the United States and shaking the country’s political system.

This week, those tensions came to light.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador from Mexico said Tuesday that his administration was “pausing” diplomatic relations with the United States in response to criticism from the U.S. ambassador over the latest crusade of his six-year presidential term.

“Hopefully there will be a declaration from them that they will show respect for the independence of Mexico,” Mr. López Obrador said of the United States during his daily news conference. “Until that happens and they continue with that policy, then there is a pause with the embassy.”

“’Pause’ means we’re going to take a break,” he added, saying it would also apply to the U.S. State Department. In the same breath, Mr. Lopez Obrador also said that U.S.-Mexico relations would not be affected, in a possible attempt to allay concerns about the potential impact on trade.

The U.S. Embassy in Mexico and the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The president’s freeze of diplomatic relations with the United States follows comments last week by Ken Salazar, the U.S. ambassador, who called the proposed legal changes “a grave risk to the functioning of Mexican democracy.” Mr. Salazar said the measures could threaten Mexico’s trade relationship with the United States by undermining confidence in Mexico’s legal framework and encouraging drug cartels to “take advantage of politically motivated and inexperienced judges.”

Mexico’s new Congress could begin voting as early as next week on changes proposed by Mr. López Obrador. If passed, they would shift the entire judiciary from an appointment system based largely on specialized training and qualifications to one where virtually anyone with a law degree and a few years of experience could run for judge.

The measure could lead to more than 5,000 judges losing their jobs, from the Supreme Court to local district courts.

According to Mr López Obrador, the reform is necessary to prevent corruption and rulings that give drug traffickers free rein.

Others, however, pointing to the president’s spate of attacks on judges who have spoken out against some of his plans, say the measures amount to a thinly veiled pretext to undermine the independence of the judiciary and increase the power of López Obrador’s nationalist political movement.

“This president doesn’t believe that judges have the legitimacy to challenge him,” said Ana Laura Magaloni, one of Mexico’s top legal scholars. “There has never been a president who was so powerful in his last month in office,” she added, pointing to how approval of Mr. López Obrador’s once-stalled designs for the justice system is now suddenly within his grasp.

The story Mexico breaks diplomatic ties with US over dispute over justice overhaul first appeared on New York Times.