Chapo's ex-lawyer among Mexico's 'high-risk' aspiring judges
In a crime-plagued Mexican border city, lawyer Silvia Delgado urges passersby to vote for her as a judge, despite her past work for one of the world's most notorious drug lords.
Her candidacy is one of the most controversial in elections beginning on Sunday that will make Mexico the world's only country to choose all of its judges and magistrates by popular vote.
But Delgado is not the only contender whose suitability to dispense justice has been called into question.
Other hopefuls include a man who was imprisoned in the United States for drug crimes, even though those taking part are supposed to have no criminal record.
Candidates must have a law degree, experience in legal affairs and what is termed "a good reputation."
But that did not prevent a former prosecutor accused of threatening two journalists who were later murdered from getting his name on the ballot.
Delgado, 51, was a member of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's legal team in Ciudad Juarez, where the Sinaloa cartel co-founder was detained before being extradited to the United States in 2017.
"I've defended many people," she told AFP in an interview, saying that having assisted Guzman in his hearings did not make her a criminal.
"Every person has the right to counsel," she said, talking up her experience to voters.
"You're going to have an impartial and knowledgeable judge," she told a street vendor near a border crossing between Ciudad Juarez and El Paso, Texas.
- 'The most imperfect' -
Delgado is one of around 20 candidates identified by rights group Defensorxs as "high-risk" for reasons including allegations of cartel links, corruption and sexual abuse.
Defensorxs describes Delgado as someone who "defends alleged drug traffickers."
It is a sensitive issue in Mexico, where criminal violence has claimed more than 480,000 lives since 2006 and left around 120,000 people missing.
A violent split in the Sinaloa cartel -- one of several Mexican drug trafficking groups that have been designated terrorist organizations by US President Donald Trump -- has resulted in 1,200 deaths since September.
Also on the Defensorxs list is Leopoldo Chavez, an aspiring federal judge in the northern state of Durango.
He was imprisoned for almost six years in the United States between 2015 and 2021 for methamphetamine trafficking.
"I've never sold myself to you as the perfect candidate," he said in a video posted on social media. "I'm the most imperfect, but the one who most wants to get this done.
Fernando Escamilla, who is standing to be a judge in the northern state of Nuevo Leon, was a lawyer for Miguel Angel Trevino, a former leaders of Los Zetas, a cartel known for its brutality.
- '0.01 percent' -
In the western state of Michoacan, candidate Francisco Herrera is accused by the press of having threatened journalists Roberto Toledo and Armando Linares, who were murdered in 2022.
He denies any involvement.
In neighboring Jalisco state, Job Daniel Wong is a minister of the Mexican mega-church La Luz Del Mundo, whose leader Naason Joaquin Garcia was convicted in the United States of sexual abusing minors.
President Claudia Sheinbaum has downplayed the importance of the controversial candidacies, saying "it's 0.01 percent" of all those standing.
Her ruling party promoted the elections, which it says are needed to combat corruption and impunity.
Critics say criminal groups who regularly use violence, threats and bribery will seek to increase their influence over the courts by meddling in the vote.
The ruling party's Senate leader, Gerardo Fernandez Norona, has said that lawyers who represented drug traffickers "should not participate."
The electoral authority will only assess the validity of their candidacies after the elections.
Defensorxs director Miguel Alfonso Meza blames the situation on the haste with which the constitutional reform was passed and the lack of rigor in vetting candidacies.
"It's impressive that to be a municipal traffic officer you have to take an exam, but to be a criminal judge who resolves cases involving a cartel, all you have to do is send your resume," he said.
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Others like Martha Tamayo, a lawyer and former congresswoman from conflict-ravaged Sinaloa, cast doubt on projections that the election could hand even more power over to criminals and criminal groups, simply because they already have a strong control over courts. 'The influence of criminal groups already exists,' she said. 'The cartels go with the judges (bribe them) whether they are elected or not.' The public has been plagued by confusion over a voting process that Patin warned has been hastily thrown together. Voters often have to choose from more than a hundred candidates who are not permitted to clearly voice their party affiliation or carry out widespread campaigning. As a result, many Mexicans said they were going into the vote blind, though others voting Sunday noted they supported the process despite the confusion. Mexico's electoral authority has investigated voter guides being handed out across the country, in what critics say is a blatant move by political parties to stack the vote in their favor. 'Political parties weren't just going to sit with their arms crossed,' Patin said. While still unsure if his vote would improve access to justice for many Mexicans, 61-year-old actor Manuel José Contreras defended the election, Sheinbaum and her party. He cast his ballot with a tone of hope. 'The reform has its problems but we needed an urgent change,' he said. 'You have to start with something.'
