Hundreds of protesters forced their way into Mexico’s Senate on Sept. 10 during a debate about controversial plans to overhaul the country’s judiciary.
The Senate had been due to vote on the judicial reform plans, which have been put forward by Mexico’s ruling party, Morena.
The reforms, championed by outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, would mean 7,000 judges across Mexico being elected by popular vote.
López Obrador says many judges in Mexico are corrupt and need to be accountable, but critics of the reforms say they could threaten judicial independence and undermine the system of checks and balances.
Some of the protesters, armed with pipes and chains, managed to force their way into the Senate chamber in an attempt to block a vote being taken.
At least one person fainted after the protesters entered, but there was no violence.
The protesters, waving the Mexican flag, were joined by some opposition senators as they chanted, “The judiciary isn’t going to fall.”
A crowd of demonstrators outside the Senate building roared their approval when television newscasters announced that senators were taking a recess.
Tear Gas Fired
When protesters tried to enter that building, police set off tear gas to hold them back.The Senate is expected to finally vote on the reforms on Wednesday.
Morena senator Andrea Chávez, wrote on the social media platform X, “Violently breaking into the plenary session where we, the representatives of the people, deliberate is not a way to resolve differences.”
Alejandro Navarrete, a 30-year-old judicial worker who protested outside the Senate, said people like him working in the courts knew, “the danger the reform represents.”
Navarrete said: “They have decided to sell out the nation, and sell out for political capital they were offered, we felt obligated to enter the Senate.”
“Our intention is not violent, we didn’t intend to hurt them, but we intend to make it clear that the Mexican people won’t allow them to lead us into a dictatorship,” he added.
The judicial reform plan passed the lower chamber of Congress last week but López Obrador’s Morena party lacked the necessary majority required to approve it.
Two opposition senators switched sides in recent weeks but Morena was still one short.
Over the weekend there was speculation in the Mexican media that Miguel Ángel Yunes Márquez, a senator from the conservative National Action Party (PAN) was preparing to vote for the plan.
Plan ‘Not The Best’
Yunes Linares has admitted the judicial reform plan was “not the best” but said, “Mexico is not going to be destroyed for approving this reform, nor will the reform automatically change the reality of a justice system that is calling out for fundamental change.”When Yunes Linares arrived in the Senate chamber on Tuesday he was greeted with shouts of “traitor!” from his own party but was applauded by Morena senators.
The national head of PAN, Marko Cortés, claimed there was an “impunity pact” between the Yuneses and the government.
In July, an arrest order was issued for Yunes Márquez, for alleged falsification of documents and fraud related to his candidacy.
Yunes Márquez had challenged it, calling it a political persecution by Morena.
But the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, Ken Salazar, has called the judicial reforms a “risk” to democracy and an economic threat.
Corruption in Mexico is often fueled by the narcotics trade and the powerful cartels.
On Monday a soldier and two civilians were killed during gun battles between rivals within the Sinaloa Cartel.
Videos shared online showed heavily armed gunmen riding trucks around Sinaloa’s state capital, Culiacan.
