Background on Mexico’s Judicial Reform and Legal Culture
For a functioning rule of law, it is essential to have robust and autonomous institutions that citizens trust, whether they benefit from or are against the decisions. In Mexico, the culture of legality has never been a genuinely incorporated value in Mexican society. When López Obrador stated, “don’t tell me the law is the law,” he echoed the sentiments of millions of Mexicans disillusioned with recent legal changes.
Since Zedillo’s judicial reform in 1995, aiming to build a legal system independent of presidential will to guide Mexico towards democratic modernity, the country has been moving toward a professional legal system. This progress involved creating autonomous bodies responsible for making decisions based on law application and curbing the power of governors and businessmen benefiting from the “cuate capitalism” established by Revolution-era regimes.
The 4T’s Judicial Reform: A Power Consolidation Strategy
The 4T’s proposed transformation has nothing to do with a leftist project favoring those ignored by the Mexican state’s legal apparatus over time, including post-1995 reform and the establishment of the accusatory criminal system. The obradorista judicial reform aims higher: to make the Judicial Power not just a control instrument supporting the regime unconditionally but also the body enabling indefinite presidential tenure.
The Simulated Election: Undermining Democracy
With the June elections’ outcomes already predetermined, this simulation surpasses even the priísta hegemonic processes’ grotesqueness. An INE subordinate to Palacio Nacional and a subservient Electoral Tribunal, under its pathetic tutelage, only lack seizing the Supreme Court to prevent potential losses and definitively cancel free and credible elections.
- Low Voter Turnout: A sparsely attended June election would delegitimize the process entirely. However, simulation allows for inventing voter numbers without contrary scrutiny.
- Return to the Past: This marks the end of Mexican democracy’s coffin and the beginning of a dark era for the nation’s citizens, reverting to fear and repression.
