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NZ Herald
a day ago
- Politics
- NZ Herald
Mexicans elect their judges under shadow of crime, corruption
'We are not very prepared,' said Lucia Calderon, a 63-year-old university teacher. 'I think we need more information.' In the western state of Jalisco, 63-year-old housewife Maria Estrada said she used her 'intuition' as she did not know the candidates. Experts were concerned that the elections would politicise the justice system and make it easier for criminals to influence the courts with threats and bribery. While corruption already exists, 'there is reason to believe that elections may be more easily infiltrated by organised crime than other methods of judicial selection,' Margaret Satterthwaite, the United Nations special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, told AFP. Hundreds of opponents of the reforms marched through Mexico City waving flags and banners with slogans including: 'Hands off our democracy' and 'No to electoral fraud'. The elections send the judiciary 'to its grave,' said Ismael Novela, a 58-year-old company worker. 'It was the last counterweight we had against the totalitarianism of the executive branch.' President Claudia Sheinbaum has defended the need for the judicial reform, insisting on the eve of the vote that only those who 'want the regime of corruption and privileges' to continue were against it. Just after polls closed, she called the vote a 'complete success'. 'For the first time in history, almost 13 million Mexican women and men exercised their right to decide the new ministers, magistrates and judges,' Sheinbaum said in a video message posted to social media. The run-up to the vote was not accompanied by the kind of violence that often targets politicians in Mexico. But 'it is logical that organised criminal groups would have approached judges and candidates who are important to them,' said consultant Luis Carlos Ugalde, a former head of Mexico's electoral commission. Rights group Defensorxs has identified around 20 candidates it considers 'high risk,' including Silvia Delgado, a former lawyer for Sinaloa Cartel co-founder Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman. Another aspiring judge, in Durango state, spent almost six years in prison in the United States for drug crimes. Voters were tasked with choosing around 880 federal judges – including Supreme Court justices – as well as hundreds of local judges and magistrates. Another election for the remainder will be held in 2027. Candidates were supposed to have a law degree, experience in legal affairs and what is termed 'a good reputation,' as well as no criminal record. To do a good job, voters 'would have to spend hours and hours researching the track record and the profiles of each of the hundreds of candidates,' said David Shirk, a professor at the University of San Diego. He believes that most of the corruption in Mexico's judicial system is in law enforcement agencies and public prosecutor offices. 'If you can avoid being prosecuted, you don't have to worry about the judge,' said Shirk, who heads the Justice in Mexico research project. The judicial reforms were championed by Sheinbaum's predecessor and mentor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who frequently clashed with the courts before stepping down last year. The main reason for the elections seems to be 'because Lopez Obrador had a grudge against the judges,' Shirk said. – Agence France-Presse
2 days ago
- Politics
Mexico's first judicial elections stir controversy and confusion among voters
MEXICO CITY -- Mexico is holding its first ever judicial elections on Sunday, stirring controversy and sowing confusion among voters still struggling to understand a process set to transform the country's court system. Mexico's ruling party, Morena, overhauled the court system late last year, fueling protests and criticism that the reform is an attempt by those in power to seize on their political popularity to gain control of the branch of government until now out of their reach. 'It's an effort to control the court system, which has been a sort of thorn in the side" of those in power, said Laurence Patin, director of the legal organization Juicio Justo in Mexico. 'But it's a counter-balance, which exists in every healthy democracy.' Now, instead of judges being appointed on a system of merit and experience, Mexican voters will choose between some 7,700 candidates vying for more than 2,600 judicial positions. Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum and party allies have said the elections are a way to purge the court system of corruption in a country that has long faced high levels of impunity. Critics say the vote could damage democracy and open the judicial system up further to organized crime and other corrupt actors hoping to get a grip on power. That process has only grown more chaotic in the run-up to the vote. Civil society organizations like Defensorxs have raised red flags about a range of candidates running for election, including lawyers who represented some of Mexico's most feared cartel leaders and local officials who were forced to resign from their positions due to corruption scandals. Also among those putting themselves forward are ex-convicts imprisoned for years for drug-trafficking to the United States and a slate of candidates with ties to a religious group whose spiritual leader is behind bars in California after pleading guilty to sexually abusing minors. At the same time, voters have been plagued by confusion over a voting process that Patin warned has been hastily thrown together. Voters often have to choose from sometimes 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 say they're going into the vote blind. 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. Miguel Garcia, a 78-year-old former construction worker, stood in front of the country's Supreme Court on Friday peering at a set of posters, voter guides with the faces and numbers of candidates. He was fiercely scribbling down their names on a small scrap of paper and said that he had traveled across Mexico City to try to inform himself ahead of the vote, but he couldn't find any information other than outside the courthouse. 'In the neighborhood where I live, there's no information for us," he said. 'I'm confused, because they're telling us to go out and vote but we don't know who to vote for.'
Indian Express
2 days ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
Mexico's first judicial elections stir controversy and confusion among voters
Mexico is holding its first ever judicial elections on Sunday, stirring controversy and sowing confusion among voters still struggling to understand a process set to transform the country's court system. Mexico's ruling party, Morena, overhauled the court system late last year, fueling protests and criticism that the reform is an attempt by those in power to seize on their political popularity to gain control of the branch of government until now out of their reach. 'It's an effort to control the court system, which has been a sort of thorn in the side' of those in power, said Laurence Patin, director of the legal organization Juicio Justo in Mexico. 'But it's a counter-balance, which exists in every healthy democracy.' Now, instead of judges being appointed on a system of merit and experience, Mexican voters will choose between some 7,700 candidates vying for more than 2,600 judicial positions. Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum and party allies have said the elections are a way to purge the court system of corruption in a country that has long faced high levels of impunity. Critics say the vote could damage democracy and open the judicial system up further to organized crime and other corrupt actors hoping to get a grip on power. That process has only grown more chaotic in the run-up to the vote. Civil society organizations like Defensorxs have raised red flags about a range of candidates running for election, including lawyers who represented some of Mexico's most feared cartel leaders and local officials who were forced to resign from their positions due to corruption scandals. Also among those putting themselves forward are ex-convicts imprisoned for years for drug-trafficking to the United States and a slate of candidates with ties to a religious group whose spiritual leader is behind bars in California after pleading guilty to sexually abusing minors. At the same time, voters have been plagued by confusion over a voting process that Patin warned has been hastily thrown together. Voters often have to choose from sometimes 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 say they're going into the vote blind. 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. Miguel Garcia, a 78-year-old former construction worker, stood in front of the country's Supreme Court on Friday peering at a set of posters, voter guides with the faces and numbers of candidates. He was fiercely scribbling down their names on a small scrap of paper and said that he had traveled across Mexico City to try to inform himself ahead of the vote, but he couldn't find any information other than outside the courthouse. 'In the neighborhood where I live, there's no information for us,' he said. 'I'm confused, because they're telling us to go out and vote but we don't know who to vote for.'
Time of India
2 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Mexico's first judicial elections stir controversy and confusion among voters
Mexico is holding its first ever judicial elections on Sunday, stirring controversy and sowing confusion among voters still struggling to understand a process set to transform the country's court system. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Mexico's ruling party, Morena, overhauled the court system late last year, fueling protests and criticism that the reform is an attempt by those in power to seize on their political popularity to gain control of the branch of government until now out of their reach. "It's an effort to control the court system, which has been a sort of thorn in the side" of those in power, said Laurence Patin, director of the legal organization Juicio Justo in Mexico. "But it's a counter-balance, which exists in every healthy democracy." Now, instead of judges being appointed on a system of merit and experience, Mexican voters will choose between some 7,700 candidates vying for more than 2,600 judicial positions. Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum and party allies have said the elections are a way to purge the court system of corruption in a country that has long faced high levels of impunity. Critics say the vote could damage democracy and open the judicial system up further to organized crime and other corrupt actors hoping to get a grip on power. That process has only grown more chaotic in the run-up to the vote. Civil society organizations like Defensorxs have raised red flags about a range of candidates running for election, including lawyers who represented some of Mexico's most feared cartel leaders and local officials who were forced to resign from their positions due to corruption scandals. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Also among those putting themselves forward are ex-convicts imprisoned for years for drug-trafficking to the United States and a slate of candidates with ties to a religious group whose spiritual leader is behind bars in California after pleading guilty to sexually abusing minors. At the same time, voters have been plagued by confusion over a voting process that Patin warned has been hastily thrown together. Voters often have to choose from sometimes 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 say they're going into the vote blind. 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. Miguel Garcia, a 78-year-old former construction worker, stood in front of the country's Supreme Court on Friday peering at a set of posters, voter guides with the faces and numbers of candidates. He was fiercely scribbling down their names on a small scrap of paper and said that he had traveled across Mexico City to try to inform himself ahead of the vote, but he couldn't find any information other than outside the courthouse. "In the neighborhood where I live, there's no information for us," he said. "I'm confused, because they're telling us to go out and vote but we don't know who to vote for."
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
She defended drug lord El Chapo - now, she's running for office
As drivers sit in traffic near the Bridge of the Americas connecting Mexico with the USA, Silvia Delgado weaves between the cars handing out leaflets. "I'm standing for penal judge," she says brightly. "Vote for number 12 on the ballot papers!" Most happily wind down their windows and accept a flyer from her. But in Sunday's rather unique election – the first of two votes by which Mexicans will choose the country's entire judiciary by direct ballot – Silvia Delgado is not an ordinary candidate. Conspicuously absent from the short biography on her pamphlets is the name of her best-known client: she was the defence lawyer for the notorious drug lord, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzmán. Her critics say her past defending the leader of the Sinaloa Cartel should disqualify her from standing as a judge. She gives that idea short shrift. "Why should it? For doing my job?" she retorts, her heckles immediately raised at any suggestion of a conflict of interest. "For defending people's individual guarantees? For mounting an adequate technical defence for a human being? Why should that make me illegitimate?" she asks. Silvia Delgado has not been convicted of any crime, is not facing any charges and is not under investigation – whether over her links to El Chapo or anything else. But a leading human rights and transparency organisation in Mexico called Defensorxs has included her in a list of 19 "high risk candidates" in the election. As well as Ms Delgado, the list includes a candidate with a drug trafficking conviction and another facing accusations of orchestrating violence against journalists. The director of Defensorxs, Miguel Alfonso Meza, believes the so-called "high risk candidates" are a danger to the legitimacy of Mexico's justice system: "Someone that has already worked with a cartel, it is very difficult that they get out, even if it was only as a lawyer. It's not even about whether she's a good person or a bad person," says Mr Meza, referring to Silvia Delgado. "The Sinaloa Cartel is not only 'El Chapo' Guzman. It is a company that has criminal and economic interests which are being resolved in the justice system. The cartel could pressure her to show loyalty because she has already been their employee." Silvia Delgado visibly stiffens at the mention of Defensorxs and Miguel Alfonso Meza. "It's completely stupid," she bristles, claiming she has challenged them to "dig into her past as much as they like". She also dismisses their main accusation that she was paid with drug money and could be compromised if she is elected judge. "How can you prove that? I received a payment which was the same as any normal monthly payment which was paid to me by lawyers, members of his legal team. I'm not his daughter or his sister or anything. I'm a professional." Ms Delgado is competing for one of more than 7,500 judicial position up for grabs – from local magistrates to all nine Supreme Court justices. While it was under discussion, the judicial reform prompted widespread protests by law students and a strike by workers in the legal system. Its critics maintain that electing every judge in Mexico amounts to the politicisation of the country's justice system. "Of course, it's a political attack [on the judiciary]," says Miguel Alfonso Meza. "Former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador didn't like to have constraints from the judicial power. When the pressure became too great and the constraints too tight, the only solution they found was to remove all the judges in the country," he adds. This reform was passed before President Claudia Sheinbaum was sworn in, but she is a firm supporter of it and polls suggest it has broad approval among the electorate too. Supporters point out that the United States, Switzerland and Bolivia elect many of their judges. But Mexico will become the first country in the world to elect all of them. Markets remain unconvinced with investors fearful of the prospect of the ruling party controlling the presidency, the legislative branch and the judiciary. Miguel Alfonso Meza believes that problems will arise from "the agreements and negotiations judges have to make with political actors… in order to get the support they need to win the elections". One of the 64 candidates seeking a seat on the Supreme Court is Olivia Aguirre Bonilla. Also from Ciudad Juárez, her legal background is in human rights law and as an activist against gender-based violence in the notoriously dangerous border city. Like all the candidates, Ms Aguirre Bonilla has had to pay for her campaign out of her own pocket – candidates are banned from accepting public or private funding and forbidden from purchasing advertising spots. As such, she's primarily used social media to push out her 6-point plan from clamping down on exorbitant salaries to opening the Supreme Court hearings to the public. While she acknowledges the criticisms over the potential politicisation of Mexico's justice system, Aguirre Bonilla believes the vote is an opportunity for meaningful change of a collapsed, corrupted and nepotistic judiciary. "I think all the citizens in Mexico are politicised, and we're all part of public life," she says. "The difference here is that our 'untouchable' legal system – and it was untouchable because it was controlled by the elites, by privilege – for the first time in history will be voted in. It will be democratised through the popular vote." Many people in the judiciary were there through influence and familial connections, Aguirre Bonilla argues, and it lacks the legitimacy of the executive and legislative branches. "This vote will grant the justice system true independence as it's not chosen by the President of the Republic but elected by the people of Mexico to represent them." So far, the arguments over constitutionality and legitimacy, over the process and the candidates have been bitter and fierce. Now all eyes turn to the polling stations, particularly on the turnout and abstention rates as indicators of Mexicans' backing for the reform. As for Silvia Delgado, the woman who defended Mexico's most wanted drug lord, she just hopes the people of Ciudad Juárez will respect her work enough to allow her to sit in judgement of other criminals who are brought before her. 'Severe blow' to Sinaloa cartel as security chief of El Chapo's son arrested Murder, drugs and football on the Mexican border Five musicians murdered in suspected Mexican cartel killing
