Mexico’s plan to elect judges is indeed aimed at foreign companies, president says

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Foreign business chambers have warned for weeks that a proposed overhaul of Mexico’s judiciary that would allow judges to run for office would hurt foreign companies and jeopardize investment in Mexico.

And President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum has tried for weeks to calm those fears, saying it was simply a pro-democracy measure. But on Friday, outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador — who came up with the plan — confirmed that the sweeping changes would indeed directly target foreign companies.

“The corrupt judges, ministers, judges, are they going to continue defending this? Are they going to continue defending foreign companies that come to plunder, to rob, to influence the economy of the Mexican people?” López Obrador said. “Are they going to continue representing these companies?”

Critics say the constitutional changes to replace 7,000 judges across the country would deal a severe blow to the independence of the judiciary, making them more loyal to their constituents or the ruling party than to the law. They also question how such mass elections can be conducted without drug cartels and criminals fielding their own candidates.

It was another bucket of cold water for Sheinbaum, who has spent her entire political career as a protégée of López Obrador and has promised to continue all of his policies. After the Mexican peso plummeted following her victory in the June 2 election, she has been walking a tightrope.

Sheinbaum, who takes office on Oct. 1, defended the changes but also campaigned to reassure foreign investors, speaking to international lenders, business leaders and corporate executives.

Earlier this week, Sheinbaum said that “the justice reforms will not affect our commercial relations, nor private Mexican investment, nor foreign investment. On the contrary, there will be a greater and better rule of law and democracy for all.”

U.S. chambers of commerce, the U.S. ambassador to Mexico, banks and financial analysts have all said the reform carries risks, especially because elected judges may feel more loyal to their constituents (or to López Obrador’s ruling Morena party) than to the law.

For example, López Obrador has persistently and publicly attacked foreign energy companies that built cleaner power plants in Mexico, arguing that their presence weakened the grip of the state-owned company he defended. López Obrador has accused the foreign companies of charging too much for electricity.

López Obrador tried to pass a law that would guarantee the state energy company a majority share of the market and put foreign-built power plants last in line for electricity. But the judge blocked it: not because they favored foreign companies, but because the Mexican Constitution prohibits the creation of monopolies.

The outgoing president has often made a point of nationalism, claiming that the foreign companies — many of which were Spanish — displayed “the attitude of the conquistadors” who subdued and plundered Mexico in the 1500s. In fact, the foreign-built factories were allowed in because they pollute less than Mexico’s state-owned facilities.

In his remarks Friday, López Obrador confirmed that the new judicial overhaul — which passed the lower house this week and will be voted on in the Senate next week — was aimed directly at cases like that of the energy companies. He claimed that opponents of the changes, including current judges, wanted to protect such companies.

“They want to continue to guarantee the continued dominance of foreign companies by all means possible and to abolish the CFE,” state-owned López Obrador said.

Foreign investment, mainly from the United States, is vital to the Mexican economy. López Obrador ends his term on September 30, leaving Sheinbaum — who will be inaugurated the next day — to clean up the mess.

Under the current system, judges and court clerks, who act as assistants to judges, slowly qualify for higher positions based on their track records. But under the proposed changes, virtually anyone with a law degree and a few years of experience “in legal fields” could become a judge through popular election.

If too many candidates were to apply, the final candidates would essentially be chosen by putting their names in a hat and drawing lots.

López Obrador’s Morena party is one seat short of the two-thirds majority needed in the Senate to pass the vote, but could defeat an opposition party. Human rights groups Centro Pro called on the Senate to scrap the measure, saying it “undermines the life of democracy, endangers human rights and violates Mexico’s international obligations.”

The reform has sparked a wave of protests by judges, court workers and students across Mexico in recent weeks.

Mexico’s courts have long been plagued by corruption and opacity, but over the past 15 years they have undergone reforms to make them more open and accountable, replacing many closed, paper-based trials with a more open format of oral arguments.

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