By Ana Isabel Martinez and Kylie Madry
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – The Mexican government has cut off relations with the U.S. and Canadian embassies in the country, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Tuesday, after their ambassadors criticized a planned judicial reform he supported.
“There is a pause,” Lopez Obrador said in a press conference, clarifying that the freeze affects the embassies and not the countries.
The president is pushing for a reform that would require popular election of judges, including those on the Supreme Court. A committee in the lower house of Mexico’s Congress approved the proposal late Monday night, paving the way for its adoption when the newly elected Congress takes office in September.
Supporters say the reform will strengthen democracy and repair a system they say does not serve the public. Critics say it will skew power in favor of the executive branch, thwart judges’ career paths and make the courts more vulnerable to criminal interference.
US Ambassador Ken Salazar last week called the reform a “major risk to the functioning of Mexican democracy” and warned of a potential risk to US-Mexico trade relations.
The United States and Mexico are each other’s largest trading partners.
Canada’s ambassador to Mexico, Graeme Clark, also warned of investment concerns.
Later Tuesday, following Lopez Obrador’s comments, Salazar released a diplomatic note from the embassy dated August 23.
“The United States supports the concept of judicial reform in Mexico, but we have serious concerns that popular election of judges would neither combat corruption in the judiciary nor strengthen the judicial branch of the Mexican government,” the statement said.
The Canadian embassy did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Lopez Obrador had criticized Salazar’s interference in domestic politics.
“How can we allow the ambassador to express his opinion and say that what we are doing is wrong?” Lopez Obrador added. “We will not tell him to leave the country. But we will tell him to read our constitution.”
Salazar had previously stated that he was open to talks with the Mexican government to discuss different justice models.
Lopez Obrador said the “pause” would last until “there was confirmation that (the embassies) would respect Mexico’s independence.”
Later Tuesday, Mexican Foreign Minister Alicia Barcena supported Lopez Obrador in a message published on X, saying decisions about Mexico are made by Mexicans, but reiterated that relations with “friends and neighbors in North America” are a priority and remain “fluid and normal” on a day-to-day basis.
The US diplomatic note said the country had “the utmost respect for Mexico’s sovereignty.”
The Mexican peso lost 1.65 percent in early afternoon trading.
It has fallen sharply since the June elections. In the June elections, López Obrador’s favored successor, Claudia Sheinbaum, won the presidential election and her Morena party and its allies secured a two-thirds majority in the lower house and a nearly two-thirds majority in the Senate.
A two-thirds majority is required for a constitutional amendment, which would also be necessary for judicial reform.
(Reporting by Ana Isabel Martinez, Raul Cortes and Kylie Madry; additional reporting by Brendan O’Boyle; writing by Cassandra Garrison; editing by Sarah Morland, Paul Simao, Jonathan Oatis and David Gregorio)
