Mexico is protesting US ambassador's criticism of proposed judicial overhaul

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico said Friday it is sending a diplomatic note protesting supposed U.S. interference after the American ambassador openly criticized a proposed Mexican judicial overhaul that would make all judges stand for election.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador called the comments “disrespectful of our national sovereignty” and claimed it interfered in Mexico’s domestic affairs, adding “I hope this will not happen again.”

On Thursday, U.S. Ambassador Ken Salazar said the proposed changes pose a “risk” to Mexico’s democracy and that they threaten "the historic commercial relationship” between the two countries. Critics fear the constitutional changes are an attempt by López Obrador to weaken the independence of the judiciary.

The diplomatic note said the ambassador's comments “represent an unacceptable interference, a violation of Mexico's sovereignty.”

The proposal to require judges to stand for election, which has not been approved yet, has spurred criticism from investors and financial institutions in recent days, with the Mexican peso steadily dropping in currency markets.

On Tuesday, Morgan Stanley downgraded its recommendation for investing in Mexico, saying the overhaul would “increase risk.” Others, like Citibanamex, warned that passage of the proposal could end in the “cancellation of liberal democracy.”

“Democracies can’t function without a strong, independent and non-corrupt judicial branch,” Salazar told reporters. “Any judicial reform needs to have safeguards that the judicial branch is strengthened, and not the subject to political conditions.”

He said the proposed overhaul would “help cartels and other bad actors take advantage of inexperienced judges with political motivations,” and “create turbulence” both economically and politically for years to come

The proposed overhaul also has triggered strikes by federal court workers and judges in many parts of Mexico this week.

If approved, the measures would allow virtually anyone with a law degree with a few years experience as a lawyer to become a judge through popular vote. If too many candidates register to run for a judgeship, the final contenders would essentially be chosen by putting their names in a hat and holding a drawing.

Given major electoral wins by López Obrador’s Morena party in June, academics, financial institutions and court employees say the changes would pave the way to stack courts with politically biased judges. That could hand the governing party control of all three branches of government and deal a blow to checks and balances, they warn.

The proposal must be approved by Mexico’s newly elected congress, which will take office Sept. 1 with Morena and its allies holding a majority. The president’s six-year term runs to Sept. 30, and President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum has also defended the proposal.

López Obrador, a populist averse to independent regulatory agencies, has long been at odds with the judicial branch.

He contends judges are part of a “mafia” that opposes him, and says the proposal is meant to clean up corruption. He has gone on winding rants against the judicial system, ignored court orders and publicly sparred with judges whose rulings he has disagreed with.

While Salazar said rooting out corruption in Mexico’s judiciary is not a bad idea, he expressed deep concern over the prospect of having judges elected.

“The direct election of judges represents a risk for the functioning of Mexico’s democracy, and the integration of the American, Mexican and Canadian economies,” Salazar said.

It was an unusual about-face for Salazar, an ambassador who had long been criticized for being too subservient to the Mexican president and who had previously been a staunch defender of Mexico's right to reform its judiciary and its energy industry.

López Obrador said it appeared Salazar had been ordered to make the comments by the State Department.

Salazar made the comments after some U.S. industry groups wrote to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken earlier in the week complaining the reforms could weaken protections for investors and favor Mexico's own state-owned companies.

Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

Unionized federal court workers strike over reforms that would make all judges stand for election, outside a federal court in Mexico City, Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

A Mexican flag stands amid the empty corridors of the federal court during a worker's strike over reforms that would make all judges stand for election in Mexico City, Monday, Aug. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

FILE - U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, Ken Salazar speaks during a joint news conference at the Michoacan state governor's office in Morelia, Mexico, June 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Armando Solis, File)

Mexico is protesting US ambassador's criticism of proposed judicial overhaul

Mexico is protesting US ambassador's criticism of proposed judicial overhaul

BOSTON (AP) — A study that explores the feasibility of using pigeons to guide missiles and one that looks at the swimming abilities of dead fish were among the winners Thursday of this year’s Ig Nobels, the prize for comical scientific achievement.

Held less than a month before the actual Nobel Prizes are announced, the 34th annual Ig Nobel prize ceremony at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was organized by the Annals of Improbable Research magazine’s website to make people laugh and think. Winners received a transparent box containing historic items related to Murphy’s Law — the theme of the night — and a nearly worthless Zimbabwean $10 trillion bill. Actual Nobel laureates handed the winners their prizes.

“While some politicians were trying to make sensible things sound crazy, scientists discovered some crazy-sounding things that make a lot of sense,” Marc Abrahams, master of ceremonies and editor of the magazine, said in an e-mail interview.

The ceremony started with Kees Moliker, winner of 2003 Ig Noble for biology, giving out safety instructions. His prize was for a study that documented the existence of homosexual necrophilia in mallard ducks.

“This is the duck,” he said, holding up a duck. “This is the dead one.”

After that, someone came on stage wearing a yellow target on their chest and a plastic face mask. Soon, they were inundated with people in the audience throwing paper airplanes at them.

Then, the awards began — several dry presentations which were interrupted by a girl coming on stage and repeatedly yelling “Please stop. I'm bored.” The awards ceremony was also was broken up by an international song competition inspired by Murphy's Law, including one about coleslaw and another about the legal system.

The winners were honored in 10 categories, including for peace and anatomy. Among them were scientists who showed a vine from Chile imitates the shapes of artificial plants nearby and another study that examined whether the hair on people's heads in the Northern Hemisphere swirled in the same direction as someone's hair in the Southern Hemisphere.

Other winners include a group of scientists who showed that fake medicine that causes side effects can be more effective than fake medicine that doesn't cause side effects and one showing that some mammals are cable of breathing through their anus — winners who came on stage wearing a fish-inspired hats.

Julie Skinner Vargas accepted the peace prize on behalf of her late father B.F. Skinner, who wrote the pigeon-missile study. Skinner Vargas is also the head of the B.F. Skinner Foundation.

“I want to thank you for finally acknowledging his most important contribution,” she said. “Thank you for putting the record straight.”

James Liao, a biology professor at the University of Florida, accepted the physics prize for his study demonstrating and explaining the swimming abilities of a dead trout.

“I discovered that a live fish moved more than a dead fish but not by much,” Liao said, holding up a fake fish. “A dead trout towed behind a stick also flaps its tail to the beat of the current like a live fish surfing on swirling eddies, recapturing the energy in its environment. A dead fish does live fish things.”

Professor James Liao displays a stuffed fish while accepting a prize for physics for demonstrating and explaining the swimming abilities of a dead trout during a performance at the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass., Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

A team of researchers perform a demonstration during a performance showing that many mammals are capable of breathing through their anus while accepting the 2024 Ig Nobel prize in physiology at the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in Cambridge, Mass., Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

People in the audience throw paper airplanes toward the stage during a performance at the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass., Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

FILE - Students walk past the "Great Dome" atop Building 10 on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus in Cambridge, Mass, April 3, 2017. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)