After passing the approval of the Constitutional Points Commission of the Chamber of Deputies, the proposal promoted by López Obrador has the table set for the full Congress to approve it. start of the new legislature On September 16, when the ruling party would obtain a qualified majority of deputies, and the leftist president would promulgate it before the end of his term on the 30th of next month.
The controversial reform that includes, among other points, the election by popular vote of judges, magistrates and ministers of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) starting next year, the creation of a judicial administration body and a Disciplinary Court, has generated a series of protests in the Aztec country, including the Courts paralyzed in twenty states.
“That is not a Mexican reform, that It is a transnational reform of 21st century socialismwhich is intended to monopolize, co-opt and manipulate the Judiciary. It is a mechanism to remove the independence of the Judiciary, making it dependent on an election system where there is political manipulation,” says Carlos Sánchez Berzaín, director of the Interamerican Institute for Democracy, based in Miami, in conversation with THE AMERICAS DAILY.
He warns that this “dangerous” mechanism seeks the “disappearance” of the separation and independence of powers and, consequently, The “disappearance” of the rule of law and the validity of the law. “The fact that Mexico is moving in this direction is nothing more than the advance of a paradictatorial government (at the service of the dictatorships of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela) like that of López Obrador, which is slowly destroying democratic institutions from Mexico,” he explains.
“Justice will not be impartial”
For Mexican analyst José Manuel Urquijo, a master in Political Communication and Governance from George Washington University, López Obrador makes a diagnosis “correct” of the Judiciary, arguing that instead of serving the people it serves the country’s economic, business and political elites. However, he believes that the solution it promotes does not solve the problem, but rather exacerbates it, since, among other things, would make justice partisan.
“If today it is co-opted by those who have power in the economic elites, Tomorrow it will be co-opted by those who have political power. So, justice is not going to be impartial, fair or independent,” he said in conversation with THE AMERICAS DAILY.
In his opinion, it is a “fallacy” that the popular election of more than 1,600 judicial positions would lower the costs of access to justice, given that a voting process of that magnitude would require practically the same economic resources as a presidential election, according to estimates by the Mexican National Electoral Institution (INE).
He adds that the reform, which reduces the number of ministers of the CSJN from eleven to nine, does not touch the public ministries or the prosecutors’ offices, which is where Mexicans “They suffer the day-to-day of a Judiciary that does not serve the people, which becomes difficult” and this is where the corruption of judges begins.
“A reform of the Judiciary is necessary, but not in the terms in which the president proposes it (…) The judicial reform touches on other types of interests that are not necessarily those that benefit the people (…) What is sought is not to reform the justice system to improve or guarantee access for the poorest.but rather it seems to be about seeking control,” says Urquijo.
The Supreme Court, which has served as a counterweight to the Executive in the last six years, is at risk of losing its autonomy. With the over-representation of deputies from the ruling Morena party in Congress, approved by the INE, and a renewal of the CSJN, Mexicans fear that the oversight function of the Judiciary will be annulled and the government reforms the Constitution without difficulty.
The pattern of 21st century socialism
In addition to the judicial reform, there is the elimination of seven autonomous bodies in charge of “monitoring” power, including the National Institute for Transparency and Access to Information (INAI), approved by the House of Representatives committees on August 23.
The functions of these seven bodies, which ensured the transparency of decisions, budgets and actions of public institutions, will be assumed by the State Secretariats, such as Energy, Economy, Infrastructure, Civil Service and Education.The government will be both judge and party“So, how can we trust the information that the State is going to provide through these institutions, which are going to be absorbed by the ministries?” asks the Mexican analyst.
The judicial reform, the suppression of autonomous entities and the absolute majority in Congress, arouse suspicion in the Mexican population, due to their similarities with the policies implemented by socialist governments in the region. “It is the same thing that we have seen in Venezuela, Ecuador and Bolivia. These references generate many doubts and uncertainty (…) It is the fear of absolute authoritarianism and the ghost of dictatorship, even if it seems far away.“, he notes.
Although, he points out, in Mexico what is currently evident is “an effort to change core points of the Constitution that will change the State, the system of government” as it is known.
Taking Mexico to the limit
Although there is still almost a “blind support” to judicial reform, supported by AMLO’s support, this has progressively lost citizen support in recent months, rising from 64% in January to 44% in August, according to national survey monitoring by The Financier.
Mexico has seen small protest moats in more than 20 states and in the capital, where hundreds of people marched on August 25 under the slogan “We are the guardians of the Constitution!”.
Political scientist Carlos Sánchez Berzaín assures that López Obrador, by insisting on a “Castro-Chavization” which can be described as “high treason against the fatherland”is “destroying Mexican nationalism” to put it at the service of the dictatorships of Cuba and Venezuela, Taking Mexico to the limits of “its temperance”.
“If it goes ahead, we will see a less democratic Mexico, without separation and independence of powers; A more socialist Mexico in the terms of Castro-Chavism (…) That would be very dangerous because Mexico is a country of free people, who will end up rejecting that but the response could be violent (…) Mexico has something called the Mexican Revolution, which is a cry for freedom. To the extent that this principle of freedom is affected, anything can happen.“, he stresses.
