Mexican Supreme Court remake: Ruling-party loyalists dominate the new bench

MEXICO CITY — Judicial candidates closely linked to Mexico’s ruling party have swept every position on the nation’s newly transformed Supreme Court, according to final results released Wednesday from the controversial judicial vote.

The nine incoming justices on the high court have strong ties to the dominant Morena bloc headed by President Claudia Sheinbaum, and their election signals a radical shift in Mexico’s balance of power.

Among them is a new chief justice, Hugo Aguilar, who would become the country’s first top jurist of Indigenous origin since the legendary Benito Juárez, who also served as president, more than a century and a half ago.

Electoral regulators still must validate the vote, though that is viewed as a formality. The Supreme Court justices, along with almost 900 other newly elected federal jurists, are scheduled to take office Sept. 1.

Mexican authorities have been tallying the results from Sunday’s controversial national balloting — championed by Morena — in which only 13% of eligible voters went to the polls. Despite the paltry turnout, Sheinbaum has lauded the election as “marvelous” and “a great success.” She has hailed the replacement of the entire federal judiciary as a victory of democracy over corruption and nepotism.

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The president has been especially effusive about the likely emergence of a chief justice from one of Mexico’s long-marginalized Indigenous communities. “It’s a profound change,” she said. Indigenous Mexicans, comprising about 10% of the population, have long been among the country’s poorest residents and are often subject to racism.

Some detractors have mocked the desire of Aguilar to don Indigenous dress instead of the traditional black robes. Sheinbaum said she supports his effort to honor his cultural roots.

Mexico has became the first country worldwide to elect all of its judges, from Supreme Court justices down to thousands of local magistrates.

Many independent observers have assailed the exercise as a triumph of politics over justice — and a potentially fatal blow for the separation of powers, a crucial pillar of democratic rule.

“This is a setback for democracy in Mexico,” said Stephanie Brewer, who heads the Mexico analysis section of the Washington Office on Latin America, a human rights research group. “When you have concentration of power over all three branches of government, you start to erode democratic rule.”

Sheinbaum’s Morena party already has super-majorities in the Mexican Congress and dominates many state and local governments.

Coparmex, a Mexican business group, said it had detected “multiple irregularities” in the vote and declared that the new judiciary could hamper investment in Mexico, the United States’ leading trading partner.

“Without independent justice, there is no sustainable investment,” Coparmex said in a statement. “Mexico cannot aspire to progress without legality.”

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The revamped Supreme Court will have nine judges, compared to 11 in the current high court. The Supreme Court will also have reduced ability to challenge congressional and presidential actions.

Sheinbaum has dismissed much of the the criticism of the election as “classism and racism,” and has celebrated the rise of Aguilar, the apparent chief justice-elect, who hails from the Mixtec ethnic group in southern Oaxaca state. She accused opponents of fomenting “hate.”

Aguilar, who currently oversees human rights affairs for the government’s National Institute of Indigenous Peoples, garnered 6 million votes, more than any other Supreme Court contender, results showed. Second highest in Supreme Court balloting was Lenia Batres Guardarrama, 5.7 million votes.

From humble origins, Aguilar has said that a desire to defend Indigenous rights inspired him to study law. He has been widely praised for his legal acumen and dedication to the poor.

“Hugo seems to be a brilliant lawyer,” said Joaquín Galván, a human rights attorney in Oaxaca state. “But I would advise against idealizing him like he is the new Benito Juárez, or to say that—just because he is Indigenous—he cannot be criticized.”

Some critics have also accused Aguilar of selling out to win Indigenous support for controversial development projects promoted by former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, notably the $25-billion Maya Train, which some Indigenous groups resisted as destructive of the environment and of native communities.

“Without doubt Aguilar has been a promoter and defender of the government of Morena,” Galván said.

Among the other candidates leading in the voting for seats on the Supreme Court are three sitting justices appointed by López Obrador, who founded Morena, and was Sheinbaum’s mentor. Those three are: Batres, Yasim Esquivel and Loretta Ortiz. By law, the new court will be composed of five women and four men.

For years, López Obrador battled with the country’s Supreme Court about a number of contentious issues, notably his plan to overhaul the nation’s electoral system. Nearing the end of his six-year term, he championed the controversial reform that led to Sunday’s judicial overhaul.

Special correspondent Cecilia Sánchez Vidal contributed.