RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador accused Sunday the Judicial Power of “being rotten” and having an “ultra-conservative mentality” given the injunctions that stop his infrastructure works.
“Unfortunately, the Judicial Branch is rotten, there are honorable expressions not to generalize, but judges, magistrates, ministers are at the service of vested interest groups and have a very conservative, ultra-conservative mentality,” he said.
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This comes only one day after the Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro announced that he would ask Congress to initiate impeachment proceedings against two Supreme Court justices who have ordered criminal investigations against him -he accuses the magistrates of violating the Constitution.
The Mexican president made these statements during a tour in the northern region of La Laguna, in the states of Coahuila and Durango, where his government intends to build a drinking water treatment plant and distribute it to nine municipalities.
But the project, called “Agua Saludable para La Laguna” (Healthy Water for La Laguna), is being held up by the opposition of environmentalists and inhabitants of the region, who have filed injunctions to stop the construction.
“If the injunctions have already begun, then we will not be able to finish the work. Do you think I am going to trust the Judiciary? I am not sucking my thumb,” complained the president.
This is not the first warning from the Mexican president, who has previously questioned the “corrupt” judges of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) and the Electoral Tribunal of the Judiciary of the Federation (TEPJF).
The President has criticized judges who endorse appeals against his public works projects, such as the Mayan Train in the southeast of the country, or his policies, such as the reform to the Electricity Industry Law, which affects private companies.
“If we had a reliable Judiciary, I would say no problem, let’s go to litigation, let’s demonstrate that there are no affectations, but no. We get into that, we get trapped, we are presented with one complaint and then another, and another, and another,” he expressed this Sunday (15).