Mexico's Constitutional Reforms: a Setback for Checks and Balances

Oct 21, 2024

Stephanie Brewer, Director for Mexico at WOLA, and Lisa Sanchez, Director of México Unido Contra la Delincuencia, dissect recent constitutional reforms in Mexico. They highlight how these changes threaten judicial independence, with citizens now electing judges, potentially eroding accountability. The discussion reveals a troubling shift towards military control over public security, raising alarms about human rights abuses and democracy. The consequences of these reforms could seriously undermine transparency and the fight against corruption in the country.

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Intro

00:00 • 3min

Erosion of Democracy: Mexico's Judicial Reforms

02:50 • 24min

Militarization and Constitutional Reforms in Mexico

27:07 • 16min

Military Accountability in Mexico

43:02 • 9min

Navigating the U.S.-Mexico Relationship: Democracy, Migration, and Human Rights

52:20 • 5min

The Evolving Role of the Mexican Military in Internal Security

57:26 • 2min

The Ongoing Struggle for Democracy and Human Rights in Mexico

59:31 • 5min

In September 2024, Mexico’s legislature quickly approved a series of constitutional reforms at the behest of outgoing president Andrés Manuel López Obrador. The revisions, among other things, fundamentally change the nature of the country’s judiciary and fundamentally and permanently change the role of the armed forces in public security.

Under the overhaul of Mexico’s judiciary, citizens will now directly elect all judges, increasing the likelihood of eroding the judicial branch’s independence. That, in turn, could complicate accountability for organized crime activity, corruption, and human rights abuses.

Another reform places the National Guard, a recently created internal security force whose members are mostly former soldiers, directly within the Defense Ministry. This further cements significant increases in military participation in internal security, immigration control, public works, and the economy during the López Obrador administration.

These changes pose likely setbacks to the struggle to hold people and institutions accountable for human rights abuse and corruption, and they threaten to weaken the quality of Mexico’s democracy.

In this episode, WOLA’s director for Mexico, Stephanie Brewer, and Lisa Sanchez, the director of México Unido Contra la Delincuencia (MUCD), explain the constitutional reforms and their likely consequences.

“This particular constitutional reform fully militarized public security at the federal level by turning the National Guard into a fourth armed force,” said Sánchez. “What we did was to fully and permanently militarize public security at the federal level in Mexico for good.”

While these reforms are not a “fatal blow” for Mexico’s democracy, Brewer pointed out, they create even more adverse conditions for “victims, survivors, family members, civil society, NGOs, and others” working for rights and justice in the country. “They really need our attention, and our support from the international community. We need to be listening to their voices.”

From WOLA: Judicial Reform in Mexico: A Setback for Human Rights (Español)
From MUCD: Reforma de Guardia Nacional concreta estrategia militarista; la democracia está en riesgo; Recursos sobre la militarización