Protesters storm Mexico's Senate, pausing judicial reform debate
NBCSep 23
Mexican Senate Approves Pres. Obrador's Judicial Reform
Above: President of Mexico Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador speaks during the daily morning briefing at Palacio Nacional on August 29, 2024 in Mexico City, Mexico. Image copyright: ObturadoMX/Contributor/Getty Images News via Getty Images
The Facts
Mexico's Senate achieved the two-thirds majority needed to amend the Constitution and pass Pres. Andrés Manuel López Obrador's judicial reform bill on Wednesday.
The 86-vote supermajority was reached as opposition senator Miguel Ángel Yunes Márquez flipped and sided with the Morena party-led ruling coalition on the reform. Forty-one opposition senators voted against the bill and another was absent.
The Spin
Narrative A
This legislation represents a long-standing and highly popular belief among the Mexican people. Critics may claim it will threaten judicial independence, but the truth is that wealthy special interests have controlled the courts for many years— blocking popular economic, energy, and corruption legislation. This corrupt status quo is about to end now.
Narrative B
This reform bill can't be described as democratic when the party behind it aims to use it as an authoritarian weapon. The ruling Morena party — the only real beneficiary of this law — wants to centralize control over both the civilian national guard and independent agencies and will use this newfound control over the judiciary to uphold its tyrannical policies.