The Latin American Report # 356

There is much to share about Mexico, between the violence that does not subside and the renewed political crisis surrounding a controversial and comprehensive judicial reform approved last September—already in the twilight of the mandate of its main promoter, Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Many social actors, inside and outside Mexico, went against the initiative because it compromises the “independence” of the judiciary and thus undermines democratic development. This, in a domino effect, would reduce the possibilities of new and sound investments, critics also said. In the specific case of the observations made by the governments of the United States and Canada, it is warned that the reform could contradict an important trilateral mechanism, a claim denied by the MORENA government and strongly rejected as AMLO considered that both governments—and particularly that of Washington—were meddling in Mexico's internal affairs.

The veteran politician, now retired, argued that the current system is riddled with corruption, so it was a good step to “democratize” the election of judges and Supreme Court ministers by introducing direct voting. Hundreds of judicial workers and other civil society actors were on strike while the measure was being discussed, but after its congressional approval, the tension had somehow subsided. The unresolved problem that is now heating up again lies in two irreconcilable interpretations of the capacity of the judicial authority to suspend a legislative branch decision. Eight ministers of the Mexican Supreme Court of Justice have submitted their resignations, opting out of the elections scheduled for next year, in a move described as “provocative” by Claudia Sheinbaum. “[They] know that they are making a political decision, not a legal one, against the people of Mexico and in favor of certain interest groups and their own,” said the president, who is having a complicated debut. The constitutional crisis will heat up more in the days ahead.

The blood course

Meanwhile, the insecurity crisis continues to make headlines every day. On October 18, in the border state of Sonora, an Arizona resident was fatally shot by gunmen, including a former Honduran presidential guard agent who was later “neutralized”. Last Monday, the director of Public Security of a municipality in the state of Michoacán was shot to death as she was leaving her home; the attack was perpetrated with assault rifles. The murdered official had taken office only in September. Also on Monday, the former mayor of another Michoacan municipality was killed by hitmen.

Two journalists were murdered in the last hours in different events. Towards the end of last Tuesday, the first murder occurred “in the center of the city of Uruapan”, also in Michoacan, with the head of a digital media being killed just after interviewing with the mayor about a suspicious fire. In the state of Colima, on Wednesday afternoon, an entertainment journalist was also killed. Six journalists have been murdered in Mexico this year so far. A tennis tournament in violent Guanajuato was canceled following reports of extortion—“virtual” kidnappings—against ten underage players and a coach, while in Sinaloa authorities have ordered the population not to dress up for Halloween amid an unstoppable spiral of insecurity that afflicts the state following the arrest in the United States of a powerful drug lord.

_{Relative and friends of a journalist killed in Michoacán last Tuesday carrying his coffin yesterday (source of the image).}

And this is all for our report today. I have referenced the sources dynamically in the text, and remember you can learn how and where to follow the LATAM trail news by reading my work here. Have a nice day.