MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico’s president blasted on Friday the U.S. ambassador’s criticism of his judicial reform bill as disrespectful while pointing to what he called a long history of “interventionist policy” across the Americas advanced by the United States.
On Thursday, U.S. ambassador Ken Salazar labeled the proposed overhaul, which would elect judges by popular vote, as a threat to Mexican democracy in a letter he posted on social media.
At his regular morning press conference, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador strenuously defended his controversial reform push, set for a congressional vote in September during his final month in office. He argued it would help Mexican judges combat corruption and clean up what he often derides as corrupt elements within the judiciary.
“There has been… a lack of respect of our sovereignty, like this unfortunate, reckless statement from Ambassador Salazar yesterday,” said Lopez Obrador.
“We don’t accept any representative of foreign governments in affairs that only correspond to us,” he added.
Salazar’s letter amount to the strongest comments to date on the proposed judicial reform by Mexico’s largest trading partner and represent a significant ratcheting up of tensions between the two countries over the issue.
(Reporting by Ana Isabel Martinez; Writing by Brendan O’Boyle; Editing by David Alire Garcia)
