Latest news with #Morena
Boston Globe
4 hours ago
- Politics
- Boston Globe
How a vote on nearly 2,700 judges could further help one party dominate Mexico
Morena leaders said they decided on the election to fix a justice system rife with corrupt judges who served the elite, rather than everyone, and who kept frustrating the party's plans. In the process, they could eliminate the final major check on Morena's power. Many legal and political analysts in Mexico expect candidates aligned with Morena to dominate the election, filling judgeships from local courthouses to the Supreme Court and giving the party effective control over the third branch of government. Advertisement As a result, Mexicans face the paradox that giving more power to the public may undercut their democracy. Predictions for Morena's success Sunday are driven by the unusual nature of the vote. Just roughly 20 percent of voters are expected to cast ballots, electoral authorities say, in part because voters hardly know the candidates. Polling shows Morena is overwhelmingly popular and the opposition is frail. The government controlled the selection process for federal candidates, who are elected by voters nationally, and 19 of 32 states will also elect local candidates. Advertisement Candidates are largely barred from traditional campaigning, a policy to try to level the playing field among candidates with different campaign funds. And political operatives have been accused of handing out cheat sheets, most of which recommend candidates with known ties to Morena. 'This is not an election -- this is an appointment by the Morena government that's going to be validated by a vote,' Carlos Heredia, a left-leaning political analyst, said this month. He previously advised Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the former Mexican president who founded Morena and signed the overhaul in his final days in office last year. Andrés García Repper, a former Morena lawyer who helped select candidates and is now one himself, disputed that the new judges would be beholden to the government. But he said vigilance will be important. 'In no way is this a carte blanche,' he said this month. 'We must demand a lot and point out each and every irregularity.' President Claudia Sheinbaum has called the election the most democratic way to fix widespread problems in the courts like corruption and nepotism, saying that the vote takes the power to pick judges from government bureaucrats and gives it to the public. 'Mexico will be a more democratic country on June 1,' she told reporters last week. She has pointed out that she would have been able to appoint four Supreme Court justices during her six-year term. 'We are giving up that right,' she told supporters this month, 'because we want the people to choose, because that's what democracy is.' Mexicans have long agreed that the justice system is broken. A broad history of impunity for the wealthy and powerful has led the public to largely give up on seeking justice; 92 percent of crimes go unreported in Mexico, a rate that has gone unchanged for a decade, according to an annual study. Advertisement As a result, a poll of 1,000 Mexicans this month showed that 72 percent believed the election was 'necessary.' Yet, 77 percent couldn't name a single candidate. In that atmosphere of uncertainty, Morena supporters have pushed the party's preferred candidates. Over the past several weeks, there have been numerous news reports of Morena operatives distributing 'acordeones,' or cheat sheets that fold out like accordions with the candidates Morena wants elected. They are designed to be carried to the polls to help voters pick from a long, confusing ballot. One cheat sheet viewed by The New York Times simply lists the numbers assigned to candidates on the ballot, leaving out their names. Sheinbaum has publicly criticized the cheat sheets, saying they are not an official party strategy. 'People have to decide,' she said this past week. 'I am not going to guide them to vote for one person or another.' Sheinbaum has had to carry out the election since López Obrador, her political mentor, left office. From the start of his presidency in 2018, López Obrador frequently called judges corrupt, but for years, he largely did not dispute their decisions. Then, in 2023, the Supreme Court blocked some of his plans, including his efforts to weaken the nation's electoral watchdog and to put the National Guard under military control. Lower-court judges also issued orders suspending some of his flagship projects because of environmental concerns. Advertisement He responded by vowing to replace the judges by popular vote. His Morena party and allies won large majorities in Congress last year. And, in his final major act as president, López Obrador signed into law a slate of constitutional amendments that overhauled Mexico's judicial system. Most judgeships became elected positions, the number of Supreme Court justices fell to nine from 11, and a new, so-called disciplinary court was created. That court will have broad powers to investigate and impeach judges, and its decisions will not be subject to appeal. Jurists worry that the vote Sunday will pack the disciplinary court with Morena loyalists who hold the rest of the judiciary to the party line. Morena party officials have argued that while electing judges is not perfect, it is the best possible avenue to overhaul a judiciary that was not administering fair justice. Many others in Mexico question whether there could have been a better process. Lila Abed, a former Mexican government official who runs the Mexico Program at the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington, said the election would most likely usher in less qualified and potentially more compromised judges than the current system. 'Does the judiciary need reform? Yes,' she said. 'Is this the reform it needs? No.' While the election could prevent many future clashes with the courts, political analysts still see it as a headache for Sheinbaum as she tries to navigate a precarious relationship with President Trump. Some candidates have been accused of links to cartels, raising fears that the election could extend the cartels' influence over parts of the judiciary. The election has also injected uncertainty into the economy. Advertisement Foreign companies, worried about who could soon be deciding their cases, have been rushing to settle litigation before new judges take office, said Gerardo Esquivel, an economist and former board member of Mexico's central bank who advises companies. 'Of the firms I speak to that are moving to Mexico, their main concern is the judicial reform,' he said. This article originally appeared in
Los Angeles Times
11 hours 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.
New York Times
12 hours ago
- General
- New York Times
How Mexico's Vote on Nearly 2,700 Judges Could Empower One Party
Over the past seven years, a leftist political party called Morena has accomplished a remarkable takeover of the Mexican political landscape. It has elected two consecutive presidents, secured supermajorities in Congress, made sweeping political moves that cemented its authority and left the opposition so badly beaten that it is clinging to life. Now, Morena could take one of the most important steps yet in its consolidation of power. On Sunday, Mexicans will head to the polls to elect every federal judge in the nation and many local ones — 2,682 justices, judges and magistrates in all — a first-in-the-nation vote to overhaul the judiciary. Morena leaders said they decided on the election to fix a justice system rife with corrupt judges who served the elite, rather than everyone, and who kept frustrating the party's plans. In the process, they could eliminate the final major check on Morena's power. Many legal and political analysts in Mexico expect candidates aligned with Morena to dominate the election, filling judgeships from local courthouses to the Supreme Court and giving the party effective control over the third branch of government. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
The Guardian
a day ago
- General
- The Guardian
Mexico steps into unknown with world's first popular election of all judges: ‘A blind date with democracy'
On a heat-dazed afternoon in Culiacán, the capital of Mexico's Sinaloa state, a tannoy by the cathedral was droning through an advert for the judicial elections on loop when a plume of smoke appeared in the sky. A flicker of agitation ran through the plaza. After months of cartel conflict, Sinaloa is on edge. Yet on 1 June, it and the rest of Mexico will start to elect every judge in the country, from local magistrates to supreme court justices, by popular vote. It is a world-first democratic experiment, but one that has prompted warnings of low turnout, a political power grab and infiltration by organised crime. The reform is the most radical move made by the governing Morena party and its allies since they won a congressional supermajority last year allowing them to change the constitution at will. Few disagree that Mexico's judicial system needs change. Justice is inaccessible to many, corruption is commonplace and impunity is rampant. Morena claims its reform will address these issues by making the judiciary more responsive to popular opinion. But critics say it will bulldoze the separation of powers, and that by throwing the doors open to less qualified candidates whose campaigns may be backed by opaque interests – including organised crime groups – it could aggravate the very problems it seeks to solve. Delia Quiroa, a well-known advocate for Mexico's disappeared, is no fan of the reform. But she admits it has given her a chance to become a federal judge she would not otherwise have had. It is just the latest unexpected turn in a life that was shattered the moment her brother, Roberto, was disappeared on 10 March 2014. Though born in Culiacán, Quiroa moved to the border state of Tamaulipas when she was a child. She had been studying to become an engineer, but as the years stretched on with no sign of her brother, she retrained as a lawyer to force the authorities into action. Threats from criminal groups eventually displaced her family to Mexico City. Then last year they moved back to Sinaloa, which for years had been relatively calm owing to the dominance of the eponymous cartel. 'People used to say that the narcos in Sinaloa left the public out of [their fights],' Quiroa said, with a rueful smile. 'Then this conflict began.' In July 2024, Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada, who founded the Sinaloa cartel with Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán, was detained by US authorities along with one of Guzmán's sons after a small plane touched down in Texas. El Mayo accused El Chapo's son of betraying and delivering him to US authorities. Now a faction led by El Mayo's son is waging war against another led by the two sons of El Chapo who remain free in Mexico. As the conflict enters a ninth month, it has left well over 2,000 dead or disappeared. And it has made the judicial elections even more complicated. 'The violence has hit the campaign,' said Quiroa. 'You can't always find people in the streets.' The city centre market was Quiroa's target for the day. Friends and family came along, handing out pamphlets with her logo: a spade and a gavel crossed over the scales of justice. 'I try to explain that I have no political or economic interest in this,' said Quiroa. 'That the only thing I want is a change in this country.' But as Quiroa bounced between market stalls, people's responses did nothing to dispel fears of an uninformed vote come 1 June. Unlike in other elections, parties cannot support candidates, nor can candidates openly profess a partisan affiliation, even if they clearly have one. Radio and TV spots are also banned, meaning largely unknown candidates are limited to handing out flyers and posting on social media. Then there is the sheer number of them. Voters will be faced with at least six ballot papers, some with dozens of names on them but little else. 'It looks like an exam,' sighed Quiroa. Even an enthusiastic supporter of the reform – a butcher behind a pile of cow hooves, who celebrated the election as a chance for 'the people to stop the robbery' – could not name a candidate. Others were sceptical, if not cynical. 'I'm not going to vote for candidates I don't know,' said one shoe shiner, who was reading a dog-eared biography of 19th-century president Benito Juárez. 'Just like I won't eat a meal if I don't know what's in it. It's common sense.' According to the president of the National Electoral Institute, voter turnout is expected to be less than 20%. Even though Morena is not allowed to back candidates, many assume it will use its unrivalled capacity to mobilise voters to help its preferred candidates – particularly for the supreme court, which has often acted as a check on Morena's executive power, and a new disciplinary tribune, which will keep judges in line. 'Morena wants to hoard all the power,' said the shoe shiner. 'They don't want to leave a crumb for anyone else.' But other interests, including organised crime, may also seize the opportunity. Defensorxs, a civil society organisation, has identified various 'highly risky' candidates, including a lawyer who was counsel to El Chapo and a former state prosecutor in Michoacán accused of alleged involvement in the murder of two journalists. 'I don't think people have managed to find out who the candidates are and what each kind of position actually does,' said Marlene León Fontes, from Iniciativa Sinaloa, a civil society organisation. 'People will vote on the basis of personal connections or political parties 'It's a blind date with democracy,' she said. If Quiroa emerges a judge, she says she will be an 'iron fist' against corrupt and negligent authorities – not least when it comes to searching for the more than 120,000 people registered as disappeared, and identifying the 72,000 bodies in Mexico's morgues. 'It was the feeling of being tortured by the authorities who should be protecting me that made me put myself forward as a candidate,' said Quiroa. Yet as far as Quiroa knows, she is the only candidate to have emerged from the many thousands searching for their relatives. 'I'd have liked there to be more – and more victims of all kinds who are lawyers and human rights defenders,' said Quiroa. 'But many people said they didn't want to be part of the destruction of the judicial system.' Quiroa shares their anxiety. 'This is an experiment,' she said. 'And we don't know how it's going to go.'
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First Post
a day ago
- Politics
- First Post
Mexico votes on Sunday to elect 2,600 judges, candidates with cartel ties in race in first such election
For the first time in history, the people of Mexico will elect almost 2,600 judges and magistrates, including members of the Supreme Court and hundreds of other federal, state, and municipal courts read more A man pushes his bicycle as an electoral propaganda banner hangs from a pedestrian bridge encouraging people to vote, ahead of the judicial and magistrate election, in Mexico City, Mexico. Reuters Mexican voters confront a difficult task on Sunday. For the first time in history, people will elect almost 2,600 judges and magistrates, including members of the Supreme Court and hundreds of other federal, state, and municipal courts. The election will shift the judiciary from an appointment-based system to one in which people select judges. Proponents of the change believe that it makes the system more democratic and addresses issues such as nepotism and corruption. Critics argue that it risks giving the ruling party greater control and opening the courts to candidates who lack expertise and credentials or may be influenced by criminal organisations such as cartels. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The experiment is so ambitious, contentious, and complicated that it is difficult to predict how it will play out: a single day of voting will result in the most extensive judicial change ever carried out by a large democracy. Here's all you need to know about Mexico's judicial elections, including how they operate and why they're important. Why are Mexicans casting ballots to elect judges? The election marks the completion of a difficult process in which Morena, the ruling party, and its supporters amended the Constitution last year to reform the court system. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador introduced the notion of electing judges by popular vote, which his successor, Claudia Sheinbaum, has championed. López Obrador pushed the plan after the Supreme Court blocked some of his government's plans, such as weakening Mexico's electoral watchdog agency and putting the National Guard under military control, and federal judges ordered the suspension of some of his flagship projects due to environmental concerns. López Obrador, enraged by the verdicts, which he deemed politically motivated, asked his supporters to help solidify Morena's control of Congress. The party's huge majority in last year's general election has allowed its members to approve a raft of constitutional amendments that would revamp the judiciary system. How does the electoral process operate? STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Half of Mexico's court will be chosen by voters on Sunday, with the remaining members to be chosen in 2027. Nearly 880 federal judgeships, ranging from district judges to justices of the Supreme Court, will be up for election this year. Furthermore, 19 of the country's 32 states will elect local judges and magistrates to fill around 1,800 positions. More than 7,700 candidates are vying for those positions. Unlike conventional elections, in which political parties can support their candidates' campaigns, aspiring judges are not permitted to utilise public or private funds, requiring them to rely on their own resources and guerilla marketing on social media to get attention. To assist voters, the election commission established an online portal where individuals could learn more about the candidates. Nonetheless, even some proponents of the makeover admit that voters would struggle to make educated decisions among hundreds of relatively unknown candidates. Concerns about democratic decay The passage of the reform legislation sparked weeks of protests by judges and judicial staff, a sharp rebuke from the Biden administration and concerns by international investors, causing the Mexican peso to dip. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Opponents have called on Mexicans to boycott the vote, and the election is projected to have low turnout. The opponents, former judges, legal experts, politicians and foreign observers, say that battling corruption and impunity in the courts is not a bad idea. Most Mexicans agree that the judiciary is rife with corruption. But critics say the ruling party is simply politicizing the courts at an opportune moment, when Sheinbaum is highly popular. Judicial candidates are not allowed to announce their party affiliation and are unable to accept party funds or hold major campaign events. A number of former Morena government officials and allies, however, have posted lists on social media of which ones to elect. Mexico's electoral authority said Wednesday it also had investigated cases of physical guides handed out to potential voters in Mexico City and Nuevo Leon state, something it said could amount to 'coercion.' Will the election improve the justice system? This has been debated for months. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Supporters of the election frequently discuss a corrupt and nepotistic system in which justice is easier to obtain for those who can pay it and hundreds of judges have been co-opted by one or more of Mexico's violent cartels. In fact, Mexicans believe judges are among the country's most corrupt authorities, second only to traffic cops. Proponents argue that an elected-judges system will cut links between certain powerful criminals, corrupt authorities, and members of the elite. Instead, they believe, judges will now prioritise the interests of those who elected them: the Mexican people. While critics concede that Mexico's judiciary faces huge problems and is in need of deep reform, they say this is not the way to fix it. Several experts have suggested that the change will politicise courts that should rule independently, and that the Morena party, which currently controls the presidency and Congress, will exercise exceptional power over the vote. They have also claimed that a system of direct elections risks allowing unqualified people to become judges and opens the door to more cartel control. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'Opening a Pandora's box' Others warn that the overhaul could open the judiciary to questionable judges and allow organized crime to further influence Mexico's justice system. A number of candidates have raised eyebrows. Chief among them is Silvia Delgado García, a former lawyer for drug kingpin Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán, who is running to be a criminal court judge in the northern border state of Chihuahua. Critics 'speak out of ignorance because whether or not I've represented some person doesn't transform you into that person,' she told the AP as she handed out campaign flyers to people crossing the border from Ciudad Juarez to El Paso, Texas. 'What I can promise you is I'll be an impartial judge,' she told some voters. Watchdogs also say that last year's vote on the reform was rushed through, criteria for candidates wasn't always followed, the number of candidates was limited by a lottery and lower-court orders trying to keep the reforms from taking effect were ignored. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD When will the results be known? Mexico uses paper ballots for voting, and each one needs to be manually tallied. The results for the federal court, including the Supreme Court, will be announced in the days after the vote, in contrast to other Mexican elections when preliminary results are known on election night. The national vote counts that will determine the final results will be held on June 15.
