Mexican president puts ties with U.S. embassy 'on pause' to protest meddling in judicial reform

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Tuesday said he put ties with the United States Embassy in Mexico City "on pause" after U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar criticized his administration's proposed judicial reform.

"They have to learn to respect Mexico's sovereignty, it's no small matter," Lopez Obrador told reporters at the National Palace in Mexico City during his usual daily press conference.

Ties with the embassy will stay paused until the diplomatic outpost clears up what was said regarding the reform initiative, said the president, adding the bilateral relationship with the U.S. government continues as always.

The Mexican president is pushing a reform to elect judges, including Supreme Court justices, by popular vote. A committee in the lower house of Mexico's Congress passed the proposal late on Monday, paving the way for it to be approved when the newly elected Congress takes office in September.

Proponents say the reform will boost democracy and help fix a system that they argue does not serve the public, while critics say it will skew power in favor of the executive, cut off judges' careers, and make the courts more susceptible to criminal influence.

On August 22, Salazar said the reform's proposal to have judges elected by popular vote instead of being political appointments, as they are now, represented a risk to democracy and a potential risk to the U.S.-Mexico trade relations.

Lopez Obrador's administration sent a diplomatic note to the United States on Friday, following Salazar's remarks.

Later on Tuesday after Lopez Obrador's comments, Salazar posted a diplomatic note from the embassy, dated August 23.

"The United States supports the concept of judicial reform in Mexico, but we have significant concerns that the popular election of judges would neither address judicial corruption nor strengthen the judicial branch of the Government of Mexico," the note read.

Later on Tuesday, Mexican Foreign Minister Alicia Barcena backed Lopez Obrador in a message posted on X, saying decisions about Mexico are made by Mexicans. She reiterated, however, that the relationship with "friends and neighbors in North America" was a priority and remained "fluid and normal" on a daily basis.

(With input from Xinhua)