In spat over judicial overhaul, Mexican leader spurns US, Canada

By Megan Janetsky | Associated Press

MEXICO CITY =— Mexico’s president told reporters Tuesday he has put relations with the United States and Canadian embassies “on pause” after the two countries voiced concerns over a proposed judicial overhaul that critics say could undermine the independence of the judiciary.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador didn’t elaborate on what a pause would mean. It’s not a term used in formal diplomatic codes, and Mexico’s foreign ministry did not respond to an Associated Press request for comment about what it would entail.

The judicial overhaul proposal, suggested by the Mexican president during his final weeks in office, includes having judges elected to office, something analysts, judges and international observers fear would stack courts with politically biased judges with little experience. It has spurred major protests and strikes and wide criticism from investors and financial institutions.

Last week, American ambassador Ken Salazar called the proposal a “risk” to democracy that would endanger Mexico’s commercial relationship with the United States. López Obrador lambasted the ambassador, saying he violated Mexican sovereignty. Salazar has since dialed back his tone, writing on X that he was open to a dialogue.

López Obrador said during his morning press briefing Tuesday he believed the sharp comments were not from Salazar, but rather from the U.S. State Department.

“We’re not going to tell him (Salazar) to leave the country,” he said, “I hope that they promise to be respectful of Mexican’s independence, of our country’s sovereignty. But until that happens, and they continue these policies, it’s on pause.”

He added cheekily, “we are going to take our time,” garnering laughs from some reporters.

López Obrador also accused Canada of interfering with an internal matter for expressing apprehension about the proposal. The three countries share a crucial commercial relationship that reached an estimated $1.8 trillion in trade in 2022. So far, the tensions show no clear signs of how they can affect the longstanding economic and diplomatic relationship between them.

Salazar has since dialed back his tone, writing on X that he was open to a dialogue and that he respected Mexican sovereignty. But as he did, members of the bipartisan Senate Foreign Relations Committee, including Republican Sen. Marco Rubio and Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine, issued a joint statement saying they were “deeply concerned” about the judicial overhaul and other proposed reforms to the constitution, which they say could “contradict commitments” made in their trade agreement.

The comments are likely to only further irritate the populist leader.

Mexico’s Secretary of Foreign Relations Alicia Bárcena took to X to say she supports López Obrador in railing against what she called an “interventionist” policy by the U.S. and Canada. However, she added in the same post that the trilateral relationship was a “priority” and that ties continue on as “normal.”

It’s not the first time the Mexican state head has thrown around the phrase. In 2022, he announced a diplomatic pause with Spain over a dispute with energy companies. At the time, López Obrador said the pause “is not a break in relations” with Spain, but “nothing more than a respectful and fraternal protest against the abuses and grievances committed against the people of Mexico and our country.”

However, the latest comments aimed at the U.S. ambassador come amid heightened tensions between the two governments in recent months, after the U.S. nailed Mexican drug lord Ismael ‘El Mayo’ Zambada in a peculiar set of events. As more information has been revealed about the case, López Obrador has taken on an increasingly belligerent tone, said Carlos Pérez Ricart, a political analyst at Mexico’s Center for Economic Research and Teaching.

“In other circumstances, in another context, he might have just listened, not escalated the conflict,” Pérez Ricart said. “In the past months, we’ve seen a lot more radical statements towards the United States.”

López Obrador is set to pass the baton to his political ally and President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum, who takes office Oct. 1. Pérez Ricart said while the recent tensions may burden Mexico’s first woman president, it can also help her set herself apart as a more moderate head of state.