The change in the post, reserved for a long time for elite jurists, occurs after unprecedented elections on Sunday, in which the country became the first to elect all judges by popular vote
Hugo Aguilar, an indigenous lawyer who was an advisor to a Zapatista guerrilla, will be the president of the Supreme Court of Mexico, according to the official vote count completed on Thursday (5). The change in the key station, reserved for a long time for elite jurists, occurs after unprecedented Sunday elections, in which it became the first country in the world to elect all judges by popular vote. The official page of the National Electoral Institute (INE) details that it will, with 5.3% of the votes, is the most voted candidate among aspirants to ministers and, by law, should command the country’s main court of nine members, who will be made up of three other men and five women.
This Mixteco indigenous, born in 1973 in the state of Oaxaca (south), is considered close to the government led by leftist president Claudia Sheinbaum, although without political militancy, and has a career in the defense of the rights of the original peoples. The new magistrate states that there is “an important debt” with the original peoples. Aguilar follows the footsteps of his most celebrated countryman, Benito Juárez, considered the father of Modern Mexico. Also indigenous, Juárez led the Supreme Court (1857-1858) before becoming president of the country (1858-1872). Sunday’s vote was attended by 13% of about 100 million voters, according to official counting.
Controversial election
Aguilar’s triumph was the surprise, as it was anticipated that the presidency of the maximum court would go to Lenia Batres, acting minister and militant of the Officialist Morena party, which ended as the second most voted. The other seven judges who will complete the high court, including two other ministers, are also considered close to the party in power. The left widely controls the legislature and governs most states in this country of almost 130 million inhabitants. Officialism, according to official counting that continues in stages, will also be widely represented in the court of judicial discipline.
On Wednesday, when Aguilar’s advantage became clearer, President Sheinbaum celebrated his victory. “I am very happy that the next president of the Supreme Court is an indigenous Mixteco of Oaxaca, very good lawyer, I have the privilege of meeting him,” he said at his daily press conference. This judicial election has been harshly criticized by opponents and law experts since it was approved in 2024 the constitutional reform that changed the system.
Former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (2018-2024) boosted the reform after facing judicial blockade to ambitious projects, arguing that the popular election of judges would allow to end a system that considers corrupt. But for its detractors, the true objective is to control the judiciary and end the only counterweight to officialism.
From different sectors, and even from the United States and Canada, Mexico’s business partners, also warned that with this new system the judges could become an easy prey of political interests and even organized crime. Mexico will celebrate in 2027 a second judicial election to designate the other local magistrates in 13 of the 32 states of the country.
*With information from AFP
Posted by Fernando Dias
