Mexican President Asks DEA Not to Interfere in His Country’s Judicial Reform

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, June 19, 2024. Photo: X/ @xeuradio

June 19, 2024 Hour: 1:15 pm

The reform will allow citizens to directly elect the members of the Supreme Court of Justice.

On Wednesday, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) asked the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to act with prudence and not interfere in Mexico’s judicial reform.

“To put it colloquially, but with all due respect: Who are they to decide on matters that pertain to Mexicans? Who authorized them to meddle in our affairs?,” he said.

Previously, the newspaper El Universal published and article claiming that the DEA issued an internal memo to its officials warning about the risks of electing judges through popular vote.

The judicial reform proposed by AMLO will allow citizens to directly elect the members of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) and judges of lower courts. This would happen through a voting system to be created in September.

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— COMBATE |???????? (@upholdreality) April 29, 2024

The DEA, however, believes that such reform could enable drug cartels and other criminal organizations to nominate their lawyers as candidates for judges. AMLO said that such a viewpoint would be taken into account, but he asked the U.S. agency to act with prudence “because Mexico is an independent country.”

Lopez Obrador said that the DEA’s interference would be like him commenting on the extension of deadlines for sentencing Genaro Garcia, the former public security secretary of Mexico who is detained in the United States for drug trafficking but has not yet been sentenced.

“It’s not my business to talk about that. They have their own procedures. So, it is better for them to be more prudent and respectful. We say this in a good way, as friends,” AMLO said.

The judicial reform is one of the first constitutional initiatives that the ruling alliance seeks to approve with a new supermajority in Congress starting September 1.