Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador announced that his country was pausing relations with the U.S. and Canadian embassies in Mexico following letters and statements. The president says diplomatic officials from both countries had spoken out against his proposed judicial reform, which calls for yearly open elections for all federal judges.
“They have to learn to respect Mexico’s sovereignty,” Lopez Obrador said during his morning news conference. The Mexican politician said that he was not kicking them out of the country but simply pausing the relationship until they learned not to interfere with Mexico’s government.
The move comes just days after U.S. Ambassador Ken Salazar and Canadian Ambassador Graeme Clark claimed that an independent judicial body was an important part of a Democracy and that having elected judges also opened the door to corruption and cartel influence.
