Ricardo Pascoe Pierce
The Judicial Branch in Mexico has abandoned its autonomy to become the demoralized servant of the Executive Branch. And the world watches, stunned, this deterioration. The cases are so many that a brief list is nauseating.
A judge suspended Mayor Sandra Cuevas from the Mayor’s Office of Cuauhtémoc, bypassing the fundamental elements of the jurisprudence that supposedly governs in a civilized country, starting with the presumption of innocence until proven otherwise and due process in any case. It is painfully clear that it is in the realm of the politically powerful where it is decided whether or not these principles are applicable. In the case of the Mayor of reference, the powerful decided that no, those basic legal principles that are supposed to be the cornerstone of our judicial system, being the rights of every citizen, would not apply.
The Mayoress has been suspended from office illegally and in violation of due process in that, she was not even heard before sentencing. It was a fulminating political act applied to an enemy of powerful politicians and, moreover, with a quota of misogyny that would be the envy of any Putin. Except that, in this case, it was the revenge of a woman against another woman.
The case of Rosario Robles is different, but, at the same time, it is exactly the same. Now from the Presidency of the Republic, the political power decided to apply all its hatred and resentment against a woman who, according to the male President, wronged him at some point in their troubled and mutually parallel political careers. He had to take revenge and, to do so, he used the ever-bending Judiciary as an ideal instrument. No matter the false evidence, a forged driver’s license, for example, the important thing is the justification for her to remain in jail as long as possible, preferably for the rest of the six-year term. And so it will be. The rest of the six years. The reviewing judges confirm the case without seeing it to avoid inconveniencing the Executive Branch. Nothing more was needed!
The Republic’s Attorney General is received like a champion by senators in petite committee in private (I mean, so as not to bother the political power he represents) who take selfies with a character who misuses and abuses his undeniable power impose his personal demands on former relatives. The force of the law for personal causes. And the legislators are clearly subservient to the political power of the powerful. It gives a pitiful and decadent image of a Legislative Branch incapable of overseeing the Prosecutor. Instead, it surrenders at his feet—a deplorable scene for a country that claims to be ruled by the separation of powers. At least, that is what our Political Constitution says the last time I read that foundational document of our political system.
And there continues the Case of the Century with the stellar presence of Emilio Lozoya, former CEO of PEMEX who promised to put former senators and former PAN and PRI presidential candidates in jail. The only naïve person who showed up at a judicial hearing was former Senator Jorge Luis Lavalle, who was immediately arrested and imprisoned, even though Lozoya was unable to present convincing data and evidence against him, beyond mere statements, regarding the delivery of bribes so that actors would vote in favor of constitutional reforms, which, by the way, he had always supported without having received any compensation whatsoever. But, then, the political power decided that he should remain imprisoned, just like Robles, until the end of the six-year term. On several occasions, as in the Robles case, circuit judges have confirmed that they will remain in jail “just because”.
Meanwhile, Lozoya has accused former presidential candidate Ricardo Anaya of having received bribes even though he was not even a legislator at the time of the vote. But, the judge would say, that is a trifle given “the gravity of everything else.” What else? Nobody knows.
Lozoya also does not present evidence of his statements against Anaya, but it seems that the strategy is to denigrate the public image of the former candidate. For the time being, he has not committed the clumsiness of appearing in a court of law in the country. He knows that he will be arrested immediately, even if the judge lacks evidence. That “proof of guilt” in the current Mexican judicial system is superfluous. As long as the political power says, “that’s the way it is”, that’s the way it will be.
Perhaps the greatest tragedy of our Judicial Power is the crafty, deceitful and suspicious conduct of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation and, most notably, of its Chief Justice. The lack of ethics and credibility erode the essence of the Constitutional Pact that is the cornerstone of the existence of the Mexican nation. Without that, there is nothing. The influence-peddling of powerful politicians capable of deciding for the Court’s ministers is in full public view. Every vote is now analyzed in terms of which Minister is influenced by which person or group interest. And the Ministers, starting with the Minister-President, have lost society’s trust, being seen as influence peddlers in every sense of the word.
This list of cases barely scratches the surface of the number of abuses committed by judges when it comes to charging for services rendered. But the problem does not end there. It turns out that the world community observes with horror the use and abuse that the political power makes of the Judiciary. And this is from the Presidency of the Republic to the last public servant of the country from the morena party. It is as if a black mist has taken over the country, distorting the laws to satisfy the anthropophagy of the political system that eats itself.
Mexico is a once respectable and respected member of the international community and a signatory to the USMCA, a trade agreement with strict requirements regarding the equal application of the law among members and companies from the three countries. The spiral of deterioration of the rule of law in Mexico calls into question the entire agreement signed by this government and the economic and financial relations that derive from it. Without laws and judges who abide by established legal rules and not the perverse political decisions of ancestral hatreds and out-of-control egos, Mexico’s reputation in the community of nations will evaporate instantly.
If the political power believes that the rest of the world does not see and judge this deterioration of the country’s situation, both in terms of the strict application of the legal framework and the effect that polarization has on the continuity of a democratic political system, then that political power is not only arrogant but also ignorant and blind. Because everyone sees us, judges us, and does not like the country’s direction.
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