Mexico holds controversial vote to elect judges and magistrates
Supporters of the controversial election believe this is needed to overhaul its judicial system known for corruption and inefficiency.
But critics say the vote will politicize the judiciary in a country plagued by crime and gang violence.
President Claudia Sheinbaum has staunchly defended the decision to hold these elections. The elections were championed by her predecessor and mentor, former president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
"Those who want the regime of corruption and privileges in the judiciary to continue say this election is rigged. Or they also say it's so a political party can take over the Supreme Court. Nothing could be further from the truth," she said in a video message.
Opponents of the vote marched in Mexico City, chanting slogans like "hands off our democracy" and "no to electoral fraud."
"It was the last counterweight we had against the totalitarianism of the executive branch," 58-year-old Ismael Novela told AFP news agency about the judiciary.
Voters had to elect around 880 federal judges — including Supreme Court justices — as well as hundreds of local judges and magistrates. Another election for the remaining judicial positions will be held in 2027.
Turnout appeared to be low as many voters struggled to choose from hundreds of largely unknown candidates.
"We are not very prepared. I think we need more information," Lucia Calderon, a 63-year-old university teacher told AFP.
Some voters said they felt pressurized to vote, while others said they felt disillusioned with the corrupt system.
"I'm not interested (in voting). Parties and their messages — they come and they go. It's all the same," Raul Bernal, a factory worker told the AP news agency.
Rights group Defensorxs said it considered around 20 candidates "high risk," including Silvia Delgado, a former lawyer for the Sinaloa Cartel co-founder Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman.
Edited by: Srinivas Mazumdaru
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
2 hours ago
Mexico City marks 700 years since its founding by Indigenous people
MEXICO CITY -- Mexico City is marking the 700th anniversary of its founding with a series of public events on Saturday, including artistic performances honoring the city's Indigenous origins. Artists in Indigenous clothing reenacted the founding of the Aztec capital in front of the country's top officials in Mexico City's main square. Later, hundreds of dancers dressed in traditional clothing, feather headdresses, drums, and ankle rattles made of seeds performed sacred dances meant to connect with nature. The anniversary commemorates the establishment of Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Mexica, a group also known as the Aztecs, who settled in the Valley of Mexico in 1325. As recorded by early Spanish chroniclers, Mexica elders told of a divine sign from their patron god Huitzilopochtli: an eagle on a cactus, signaling where to settle. That place became Tenochtitlan, the center of Aztec civilization and the site of today's Mexico City. That symbol was later recorded in the Codex Mendoza, which contained historical accounts of the Aztec empire. It became central to Mexican identity and appears today on the national flag. 'Mexico was not born with the arrival of the Spanish; Mexico was born much earlier with the great civilizations,' said President Claudia Sheinbaum in a speech in which she urged the eradication of the racism that still persists in the country. Tenochtitlan began as a village on an island in a lake ringed by volcanic peaks. But historians say many other details that have come down in history are based heavily on legend, and that the exact founding date is unknown. By the time the Spanish arrived in the 16th century, they were awed by a city filled with palaces, bridges, canals and bustling trade, according to Spanish chronicler and conquistador Bernal Díaz del Castillo. Historian Miguel Pastrana of the National Autonomous University of Mexico's Historic Investigations Institute, an expert on Tenochtitlan, said the weekend's festivities are 'political and civic" and do not reflect the latest historical research. The historical record describes the Mexica as a people who migrated from a place called Aztlan, supposedly an island whose exact location remains unknown. They knew how to fish, gather aquatic plants and hunt birds, as well as build dams, and they tried to settle in several places before arriving in the Valley of Mexico. The main island in the lake was already populated by the Tepaneca people, but they allowed the Mexica to settle there in exchange for tribute payments and other services, Pastrana said. Little by little, the Mexica's power grew. They were strong warriors and commercially prosperous, and they were effective at making alliances with other peoples. Tenochtitlan became a great city at the center of an empire until the Spanish conquered it in 1521.
Epoch Times
8 hours ago
- Epoch Times
Mexico Asks US for ‘Immediate Repatriation' of Mexicans Detained in Alligator Alcatraz
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Wednesday that 30 Mexicans are currently being held at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport detention center in Florida. The center is more commonly referred to as Alligator Alcatraz because of its remote location deep in the Florida Everglades swamps, with a large population of alligators and snakes. It began operations on July 1 as a detention center for illegal immigrants detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and awaiting prosecution and deportation.
Politico
a day ago
- Politico
Trump issues order imposing new global tariff rates effective Aug. 7
According to the text of the first order, the Trump administration is maintaining its 10 percent so-called baseline tariff on countries where the U.S. has a trade surplus — i.e. it sells more American products to those countries than it imports from them. And it officially imposes the 15 percent rate that Trump agreed to set as part of negotiations with leading trading partners like the European Union, Japan and South Korea. The Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia also reached tentative agreements with the administration that set their duties at 19-20 percent. Other countries, mainly smaller economies, face far higher rates, topping out at 41 percent for Syria, which is emerging from a civil war, and 40 percent for Myanmar, which is still in the midst of one. The Southeast Asian nation of Laos also faces a 40 percent tariff, and Iraq will be hit with a 35 percent duty. Bigger trading partners like Switzerland also face a significant tariff hike — to 39 percent. Trump also signed a second order raising tariffs on Canada, one of the country's biggest trading partners, from 25 to 35 percent for goods that are not compliant with an existing North American trade deal known as the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. The senior official told reporters that Canada hasn't 'shown the same level of constructiveness that we've seen from the Mexican side.' Trump announced earlier Thursday that he was maintaining the 25 percent tariff on Mexico for another 90 days after a phone call with their president, Claudia Sheinbaum. Higher tariffs on Canada take effect Friday. The executive actions suggests that Trump decided to punish countries that he did not believe offered enough concessions since the president first threatened to impose his 'reciprocal' tariffs on April 2. 'Some trading partners have agreed to, or are on the verge of agreeing to, meaningful trade and security commitments with the United States, thus signaling their sincere intentions to permanently remedy the trade barriers,' the global order says. 'Other trading partners, despite having engaged in negotiations, have offered terms that, in my judgment, do not sufficiently address imbalances in our trading relationship or have failed to align sufficiently with the United States on economic and national-security matters,' 'There are also some trading partners that have failed to engage in negotiations with the United States or to take adequate steps to align sufficiently with the United States on economic and national security matters,' it continues. White House officials said Thursday night that they expect to strike additional agreements with countries ahead of the new Aug. 7 implementation date for the tariffs. 'We have some deals, and I don't want to get ahead of the president on those deals,' the senior administration official told reporters. 'I'll just say generally, we have more to come.' Taiwan is hoping to be one of those countries. The semiconductor powerhouse faces a 20 percent tariff in a week's time, but in a statement released late Thursday, Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te suggested the rate was 'provisional.' 'Due to the procedural arrangement of the negotiations, the Taiwan-U.S. sides have not yet concluded the final meeting. Therefore, the U.S. has temporarily announced a 20% tariff rate for Taiwan,' President Lai said. 'Once an agreement is reached in the future, there is hope that the tariff rate can be further lowered. Both sides will also continue negotiations on supply chain cooperation and issues related to Section 232 tariffs.'
