Mexico's government has frozen relations with the embassies of the United States and Canada, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Tuesday, after their ambassadors criticized a proposed judicial reform backed by the Mexican leader.
“There's a pause,” said President Lopez Obrador during a press conference, clarifying that the freeze was with the embassies and not with the countries.
The Mexican president supports a reform that calls for the election of judges as well as members of the Supreme Court through a popular vote.
A committee of Mexico's lower house of Congress approved the proposal late Monday, paving the way for approval by the newly elected Congress that takes office in September.
Supporters say the reform will strengthen democracy and help fix a system they argue doesn't serve the public. On the other hand, critics say the reform would tilt the judiciary in favor of the executive, disrupt the careers of judges and make the courts more vulnerable to criminal influence.
Last week, the US ambassador, Ken Salazar, described the reform as a “great danger to the functioning of democracy in Mexico” and warned of a possible jeopardy of trade relations between the United States and Mexico. The US and Mexico are each other's largest trading partners.
Canada's ambassador to Mexico, Graeme Clark, also raised concerns about the investments.
On Tuesday, following President Lopez Obrador's comments, US Ambassador Ken Salazar posted a diplomatic note from the embassy dated August 23.
“The United States supports the concept of judicial reform in Mexico, but we have significant concerns that the election of judges through popular vote will neither address corruption in the judiciary nor strengthen the legal branch of Mexico's government.”the official letter said.
The Canadian embassy did not immediately respond to a Reuters news agency request for comment.
The Mexican president has criticized what he described as Ambassador Salazar's interference in his country's internal politics.
“How will we allow the ambassador to give his opinion, to say that what we are doing is wrong? We will not tell him to leave the country. But for him to read our Constitution”.
President Lopez Obrador said that: the “pause” will continue until “there is confirmation that (the embassies) will respect the independence of Mexico”.
Later on Tuesday, Mexican Foreign Minister Alicia Barcena supported the president in a message posted on the X network, saying that decisions about Mexico are made by Mexicans.
She emphasized that relations with “friends and neighbors in North America” have priority and remain “normal and fluid” on a daily basis.
The American diplomatic note stated that the United States had “the utmost respect for the sovereignty of Mexico”.
