Latest news with #Milenio
Los Angeles Times
4 days ago
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
Mexico judicial elections: Government calls it essential reform. Critics say it's a farce
MEXICO CITY — Hyper-democracy or ruling-party power play? That is the question as Mexicans go to the polls Sunday to elect the country's judges in a radical reshaping of the nation's power structure. At a time when many observers fear that President Trump is targeting judicial independence in the U.S., lawmakers here have opted to revamp the judiciary in a landmark — and extremely divisive — reform. Mexico, which has never before voted for judges, will become the first country to have an all-elected judiciary. The unprecedented vote has generated both widespread controversy and profound confusion as thousands of candidates vie for close to 900 federal judicial slots, including all nine on the Supreme Court. Polls have shown that many Mexicans are both skeptical and apathetic— and have no idea whom to favor among the vast array of mostly unknown contenders, some with links to organized crime. At least one candidate served time in a U.S. prison for methamphetamine smuggling, and several others have represented drug traffickers, including one would-be judge who was on the legal team of cartel kingpin Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán. 'I've participated in elections all my life, but this will be the first time that I won't vote,' said Marcelo Díaz, 68, a retiree in the capital. 'I don't have any idea who the candidates are, or what they stand for.' Supporters of the election, led by President Claudia Sheinbaum, hail the transition as a blow against impunity. Critics denounce the move as Mexico's latest step toward authoritarian rule in a country where Sheinbaum's Morena bloc dominates at the federal and state levels. More than half of the country's more than 1,500 federal judge and magistrate posts will be up for grabs on Sunday, and the rest in 2027. Voters in 19 states will be choosing almost 2,000 regional judges. Sheinbaum and her allies call the shake-up a necessary makeover of an ossified system riven with corruption and nepotism. Under the current system, the president says, judges routinely spring organized crime figures, tax cheats and other well-to-do criminals, while impunity for murder and other crimes is the norm. Detention of poor suspects may drag on for years without trials. 'Now they accuse us of being authoritarian,' Sheinbaum said recently, rejecting criticism of the elections. 'How can this be authoritarian if the people decide?' While conceding shortcomings in the current judiciary, opponents label the elections a move toward a one-party state. Even though the balloting is officially nonpartisan, many anticipate that candidates close to the ruling party will dominate. Critics predict the weakening of checks and balances. 'That the judicial system doesn't work as it should work, and hasn't worked, is a given,' wrote columnist Denise Maerker in Mexico's Milenio news outlet. 'Corruption reigns and the rich and most powerful triumph. But this is not a remedy — it's a demolition.' Previously, expert panels appointed judges after a screening process that involved judicial administrators, exams and evaluations. The president appointed Supreme Court justices, with Senate consent. In the new system, qualifications are rudimentary. Among other requirements, aspiring jurists must possess law degrees, have at least five years of legal work experience, and certify their 'good reputation' and lack of criminal convictions. Even ruling-party stalwarts have conceded serious deficiencies in the new system. Last month, Sen. Gerardo Fernández Noroña called for the scrapping of at least 20 candidates identified as having possible links to organized crime. The electoral commission said it was too late to remove them from the ballot. Among the candidates in Chihuahua state is Silvia Rocío Delgado, a one-time lawyer for the notorious 'El Chapo' Guzmán, now serving a life sentence in the United States for narcotics trafficking, murder and other crimes. 'There shouldn't be a stigma' for having represented El Chapo, Delgado told Univisión Noticias. 'If people vote for me, I will seek impartiality of justice for both sides.' Seeking office in the northwestern state of Durango is Leopoldo Javier Chávez Vargas. He has acknowledged having served almost six years in U.S. custody for methamphetamine trafficking. 'I have never presented myself as the perfect candidate,' Chávez said in a Facebook video. But, he added, 'I will be a judge who will listen attentively to your stories.' The tentacles of organized crime reach deep into Mexico's political and judicial order. Judges are often targets. Since 2012, at least 17 Mexican judges and six clerks have been killed in connection with their work, according to the International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based research organization. 'There is little doubt that a fully independent, competent justice system is essential if Mexico's wave of violence is to end,' the group concluded in a report on Mexico's judicial elections. Sheinbaum has defended the revamped process, saying that only 'a very small percentage' of candidates appear unqualified. Many candidates have previously served as judges or clerks. The 64 contenders for nine seats on the Supreme Court include three sitting justices, Lenia Batres Guadarrama, Yasmin Esquivel and Loretta Ortiz. Among the candidates for lower judicial posts is Delia Quiroa, 42, who has spent years providing legal advice to families seeking to trace the fates of 'disappeared' relatives. Quiroa founded a search group for the missing after her brother was kidnapped in 2014. He was never seen again. 'A lot of people say we can't do anything because of threats from organized crime, or we don't have qualified people,' said Quiroa, who is running in northwest Sinaloa state, an epicenter of cartel violence. 'I've seen the problems in the courts. It's time to demand a change.' While generating political polemics, Sunday's vote has not triggered the raucous street rallies that generally accompany Mexican balloting. Much of the campaigning has unfolded on social media, where would-be judges with limited public profiles hype their bona fides. Ballots do not denote political affiliations; political parties are banned from bankrolling candidates. Instead, candidates must rely on self-funding, which tends to favor the wealthy. One recent poll showed that almost half of Mexicans weren't even aware that that vote was happening. And those who do come out to vote will have to grapple with a convoluted, color-coded assemblage of ballots listing hundreds of names, all with corresponding numbers. Atop each ballot are circles into which voters must fill in the numbers associated with their preferred candidates. A running joke here is that learning the mechanics of voting may be more challenging than deciding whom to vote for. 'The truth is I don't understand one bit how we are to vote,' said Rosa María Castro, 54, a housewife in Mexico City. 'It all looks very complicated.' The elections are the brainchild of ex-President Andrès Manuel López Obrador — who, like Trump, often clashed with the judiciary, complaining that unelected judges were thwarting his aspirations for a 'transformation' of Mexican society. In 2024, near the end of his six-year-term, López Obrador proposed amending the constitution to mandate judicial elections. Outraged judicial employees staged disruptive street protests, but to no avail. The Morena-dominated Congress fast-tracked the constitutional changes. Sunday's vote will be the culmination of the ex-president's vision for a people's court. It's a leap into the unknown for a country where so many long ago lost faith in the concept of justice. 'The success of President Sheinbaum's plans to dismantle criminal organizations and prosecute violent crime more effectively will rest on an able, impartial judiciary,' the International Crisis group wrote. 'For now, however, opinions remain divided as to whether the country's grand experiment in direct election of judges will remedy longstanding failings — or just recast and possibly exacerbate them.' McDonnell and Linthicum are staff writers, Sánchez Vidal a special correspondent.
Edmonton Journal
4 days ago
- Edmonton Journal
Canadian man who disappeared after going swimming in Mexico washes up dead
Article content Ankele has been missing since Sunday, Mexican publication Milenio reported. Search and rescue efforts began later that evening. The beach is a well-known surfing spot, per travel website Lonely Planet's review of the location. 'Nonsurfers beware: the waters here have a lethal undertow and are not safe for the boardless, or beginner surfers either,' the site warns. According to authorities, Zicatela is not suitable for swimming, 'especially during swells, which cause dangerous currents and waves up to three meters high,' local publication El Tiempo reported. In a statement to National Post, Global Affairs Canada spokesperson Charlotte MacLeod said the agency 'is aware of the death of a Canadian citizen in Mexico' and 'extends its deepest condolences to the family and friends of the deceased.' 'Consular officials are in contact with local authorities and are providing consular assistance,' said MacLeod, adding that no more information can be disclosed at this time due to privacy considerations. On May 26, Puerto Escondido Lifeguards said there were two people missing at sea in a social media post. They cautioned beach-goers against walking along Zicatela Beach and said to avoid getting into the water. Videos shared by the account on Instagram showed white-capped waves slamming down onto the shore.
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Mexican sailor recalls horror aboard doomed Navy ship that crashed into Brooklyn Bridge: ‘No one reacted'
He could see it coming. A sailor who tried to warn his colleagues before their Mexican navy training ship smashed into the Brooklyn Bridge recalled the moments of sheer panic before the deadly crash — and the helplessness of having his screams go unanswered. 'It was very, very ugly,' the unnamed boatswain said in a chilling audio interview this week with Mexican news outlet Milenio. As the Cuauhtémoc drifted off course May 17, the sailor recalled in Spanish how the majestic training vessel was creeping closer and closer to the 142-year-old bridge, which he referred to as 'the dock,' before the ship's masts slammed into its historic span, killing two cadets and injuring 19 others. 'When the linemen — I mean, I don't know how they maneuvered, but they literally threw us against the [bridge], and I saw clearly how we were going, I mean, heading toward the [bridge],' the man said in Spanish. 'I started yelling at them, 'Hey, we're going against the [bridge]! We're going against the [bridge]!' but no one reacted,' he said. Distress calls from the Cuauhtémoc went out 45 seconds before the deadly collision, which happened less than five minutes after the ship set sail, officials said. 'It was too fast. When we came to see it, we were against the [bridge]. The three masts broke, and that was it,' the man explained. Multiple sailors harnessed up in rigging were sent flying into the air, while the rest of the them scrambled in the chaos. 'Obviously, we had all the cadets up there, and there were too many injured,' said the boatswain, the sailor in charge of overseeing a ship's equipment and crew. 'I think a cadet fell from the bridge, which is the highest point up to the deck, so she is in very serious condition and it is not known if she will survive.' América Yamilet Sánchez, 20, died from injuries she sustained in the wreck. A second cadet, 23-year-old Adal Jair Maldonado Marcos, was also killed. 'The decks of the ship were covered in blood,' he continued. 'All three masts were destroyed, the cables burst – I mean, it was horrible, honestly.' As the boat crumpled, the sailors scrambled to rescue cadets tangled in the rigging, he said. 'The boatswains had to go up and lower them, and then the masts were bending, so we were going up and with the broken masts, we were up there trying to lower people little by little…they couldn't get down.' The cause of the crash remains under investigation. In total, there were 277 crew members on board — 213 men and 64 women — most of whom were cadets from the Heroica Escuala Naval Militar, the Mexican navy's officer training academy in Veracruz.
New York Post
24-05-2025
- General
- New York Post
Mexican sailor recalls horror aboard doomed Navy ship that crashed into Brooklyn Bridge: ‘No one reacted'
He could see it coming. A sailor who tried to warn his colleagues before their Mexican navy training ship smashed into the Brooklyn Bridge recalled the moments of sheer panic before the deadly crash — and the helplessness of having his screams go unanswered. 'It was very, very ugly,' the unnamed boatswain said in a chilling audio interview this week with Mexican news outlet Milenio. As the Cuauhtémoc drifted off course May 17, the sailor recalled in Spanish how the majestic training vessel was creeping closer and closer to the 142-year-old bridge, which he referred to as 'the dock,' before the ship's masts slammed into its historic span, killing two cadets and injuring 19 others. 5 'It was too fast,' the sailor recalled. 'We were against the [bridge]. The three masts broke, and that was it.' Paul Martinka 'When the linemen — I mean, I don't know how they maneuvered, but they literally threw us against the [bridge], and I saw clearly how we were going, I mean, heading toward the [bridge],' the man said in Spanish. 'I started yelling at them, 'Hey, we're going against the [bridge]! We're going against the [bridge]!' but no one reacted,' he said. Distress calls from the Cuauhtémoc went out 45 seconds before the deadly collision, which happened less than five minutes after the ship set sail, officials said. 'It was too fast. When we came to see it, we were against the [bridge]. The three masts broke, and that was it,' the man explained. Multiple sailors harnessed up in rigging were sent flying into the air, while the rest of the them scrambled in the chaos. 5 The harrowing crash launched multiple sailors harnessed up in rigging flying into the air. PORTER BINKS/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock 5 The cause of the catastrophic crash – which left another 19 sailors injured – remains under investigation. James Keivom 'Obviously, we had all the cadets up there, and there were too many injured,' said the boatswain, the sailor in charge of overseeing a ship's equipment and crew. 'I think a cadet fell from the bridge, which is the highest point up to the deck, so she is in very serious condition and it is not known if she will survive.' América Yamilet Sánchez, 20, died from injuries she sustained in the wreck. A second cadet, 23-year-old Adal Jair Maldonado Marcos, was also killed. 'The decks of the ship were covered in blood,' he continued. 'All three masts were destroyed, the cables burst – I mean, it was horrible, honestly.' As the boat crumpled, the sailors scrambled to rescue cadets tangled in the rigging, he said. 5 Mexican Naval Cadet América Yamilet Sánchez, 20, succumbed to injuries she sustained during the wreck. 5 A second cadet, 23-year-old Adal Jair Maldonado Marcos, was also killed in the disaster. Facebook/Adal Jair Marcos 'The boatswains had to go up and lower them, and then the masts were bending, so we were going up and with the broken masts, we were up there trying to lower people little by little…they couldn't get down.' The cause of the crash remains under investigation. In total, there were 277 crew members on board — 213 men and 64 women — most of whom were cadets from the Heroica Escuala Naval Militar, the Mexican navy's officer training academy in Veracruz.
Hindustan Times
15-05-2025
- Hindustan Times
Valeria Marquez death: Who is Ricardo Ruiz Velazco, man linked to Mexican influencer's shooting?
Ricardo Ruiz Velazco, also known as 'El Doble RR', 'RR', or 'El Tripa', has been linked to the fatal shooting of Mexican influencer Valeria Marquez. On Wednesday, local media outlet Milenio cited sources to report that Velazco is the main suspect in the case. The publication cited Jalisco authorities to add that Velazco was in a relationship with Marquez for several months and was upset with the influencer because she received expensive gifts from her fans. Authorities are yet to react to the report. It is unclear if the alleged suspect has been arrested yet. Read More: Valeria Marquez case: Unknown woman spotted on livestream after Mexican influencer shot This comes after Marquez was shot during a TikTok live stream on Tuesday. The 23-year-old was in a beauty salon in Zapopan when a man entered the room and shot her, police confirmed, without naming a suspect. The social media influencer's death is being investigated as femicide, the killing of women for reasons of gender. Milenio reported that the alleged suspect, Ricardo Ruiz Velazco, is the leader of an armed group in Jalisco. The group is called the Jalisco Nueva Generacion Cartel (CJNG). The outlet added that Marquez had earlier on Tuesday posted about receiving an expensive gift. A man later posed as a deliveryman to arrive at the beauty salon. He shot her during the live stream. Marquez had nearly 200,000 followers on Instagram and TikTok. Moments before the shooting, she was seen on her livestream holding a stuffed toy and seated at a table. She said, 'they're coming,' and responded 'Yes' to a voice calling 'Hey, Vale?' before muting the audio. Mexico ranks among the highest in Latin America for femicide, tied with Paraguay, Uruguay, and Bolivia at 1.3 deaths per 100,000 women in 2023, according to the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. Jalisco, where the incident occurred, is the sixth most violent state in Mexico, with 906 homicides recorded since President Claudia Sheinbaum took office in October 2024, per TResearch data.
