Mexico president says US judicial reform criticism is domestic interference

On Monday, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador affirmed "yes" in response to a question at his morning press conference regarding whether he believed the United States was using its ambassador to meddle in Mexico’s domestic matters.

Last Thursday, U.S. Ambassador Ken Salazar had criticized a proposed judicial reform that would elect judges by popular vote, calling it a threat to Mexican democracy. He argued that the reform could expose Mexico’s judiciary to organized crime and jeopardize the U.S.-Mexico trade relationship.

Lopez Obrador had denounced this critique as "interventionist" the previous week. On Monday, he reiterated the importance of respecting each nation's sovereignty while maintaining that relations with Salazar and U.S. President Joe Biden are amicable.

Lopez Obrador stated that nothing "rational" could lead to a disruption in U.S.-Mexican trade relations. He noted that the United States and Mexico are each other's primary trading partners, with the U.S. increasingly establishing factories in Mexico to relocate its supply chains from China to nearer locations.