{"id":24378,"date":"2024-08-29T00:02:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-28T21:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/?p=24378"},"modified":"2024-09-05T16:47:33","modified_gmt":"2024-09-05T13:47:33","slug":"mexico-pauses-relations-with-us-and-canadian-embassies-over-criticism-of-judicial-reforms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/mexico-pauses-relations-with-us-and-canadian-embassies-over-criticism-of-judicial-reforms\/","title":{"rendered":"Mexico pauses relations with US and Canadian embassies over criticism of judicial reforms"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>4 minute read<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador announced on August 27, 2024, that he has put ties with the United States Embassy in Mexico City \u201con pause\u201d following criticism from U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar regarding his administration\u2019s proposed judicial reform.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThey have to learn to respect Mexico\u2019s sovereignty, it\u2019s no small matter,\u201d Lopez Obrador stated during his daily press conference at the National Palace in Mexico City.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The president clarified that ties with the embassy will remain paused until the diplomatic outpost clarifies its stance on the reform initiative. However, he emphasized that the bilateral relationship with the U.S. government continues as usual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lopez Obrador is advocating for a reform to elect judges, including Supreme Court justices, by popular vote. This proposal was passed by a committee in the lower house of Mexico\u2019s Congress earlier this week, setting the stage for its approval when the newly elected Congress convenes in September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The current Mexican administrator argues that the reforms will enhance democracy and address a system they believe fails to serve the public. Critics, however, argue that it will concentrate power in the executive branch, disrupt judicial careers, and make the courts more vulnerable to criminal influence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On August 22, Salazar expressed concerns that the proposal to elect judges by popular vote, rather than through political appointments as is currently the practice, posed a risk to democracy and could potentially impact U.S.-Mexico trade relations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">My statement on Mexico\u2019s judicial reform proposal <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/fjOVgk7qRn\">pic.twitter.com\/fjOVgk7qRn<\/a><\/p>\u2014 Embajador Ken Salazar (@USAmbMex) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/USAmbMex\/status\/1826703121894248523?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 22, 2024<\/a><\/blockquote> <script async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Salazar said that he believes a \u201cpopular direct election of judges is a major risk to the functioning of Mexico\u2019s democracy.\u201d&nbsp;Salazar stressed that judicial reforms should ensure the judiciary would be strengthened and not \u201csubject to the corruption of politics.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Several U.S. lawmakers&nbsp;also expressed their concern&nbsp;on the issue, saying&nbsp;judicial reform will&nbsp;jeopardize \u201ccritical economic and security interests shared by our two nations\u201d including a regional trade pact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe are also alarmed that several other constitutional reforms currently under discussion may contradict commitments made in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement, which is scheduled for review in 2026,\u201d said a statement released by the US Senate\u2019s Foreign Relations Committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Canada\u2019s&nbsp;ambassador&nbsp;in Mexico, Graeme Clark also warned of investor worries due to the proposed judicial reforms and voiced concern about the \u201cdisappearance\u201d of some autonomous bodies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In response to these remarks, Lopez Obrador\u2019s administration sent a diplomatic note to the United States and Canada. After which, Salazar posted a diplomatic note from the embassy, dated August 23, stating, \u201cThe United States supports the concept of judicial reform in Mexico, but we have significant concerns that the popular election of judges would neither address judicial corruption nor strengthen judicial independence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Federal-judiciary-employees-protest.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1016\" height=\"678\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Federal-judiciary-employees-protest.jpg?resize=1016%2C678&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Employees of the federal judiciary hold a protest\" class=\"wp-image-24386\" style=\"width:839px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Federal-judiciary-employees-protest.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Federal-judiciary-employees-protest.jpg?resize=300%2C200&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Federal-judiciary-employees-protest.jpg?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Federal-judiciary-employees-protest.jpg?resize=589%2C392&amp;ssl=1 589w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Federal-judiciary-employees-protest.jpg?w=1200&amp;ssl=1 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1016px) 100vw, 1016px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em><sup>Employees of the federal judiciary hold a protest during an indefinite nationwide strike before lawmakers vote on the country&#8217;s judicial reform, including moving to the popular election of judges, outside their offices in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico August 21, 2024. (Image Credit: Jose Luis Gonzalez\/via Reuters)<\/sup><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador announced that he has put ties with the United States Embassy in Mexico City \u201con pause\u201d following criticism from U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar regarding his administration\u2019s proposed judicial reform.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24387,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[115,1],"tags":[358,157,208,294,229,354,71,747,7],"class_list":["post-24378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-americas","category-news","tag-americas","tag-canada","tag-diplomacy","tag-latin-america","tag-mexico","tag-north-america","tag-politics","tag-south-america","tag-u-s"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Mexican-President-Andres-Lopez-Obrador.jpg?fit=690%2C370&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7jJWb-6lc","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24378"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24378\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24562,"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24378\/revisions\/24562"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}