ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
Mexican lawmakers have approved a controversial constitutional amendment that will completely remake the way the country's judiciary works. NPR's Eyder Peralta reports the debate was interrupted when protesters forced their way into the Senate chambers.
EYDER PERALTA, BYLINE: Inside the Senate, the ruling party had convinced one member of the opposition to vote in favor of the constitutional amendment. It was the last vote they needed. Senator Marko Cortes of the opposition pleaded with his colleague to reject the amendment, which he said would end judicial independence.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
MARKO CORTES: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: "They will call you a traitor," he said. "The stakes are so high."
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Chanting in non-English language).
(SOUNDBITE OF DRUM BEATING)
PERALTA: Outside of the Senate building, the judiciary workers who have been on strike saw that the pleas weren't working, so they made their move.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
GERARDO FERNANDEZ NORONA: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: As the crowd broke down doors, the president of the Senate asked for calm.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: But protesters couldn't be stopped. They flooded the chamber. Senators panicked. We can't risk our lives, one senator said.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Speaking Spanish).
FERNANDEZ NORONA: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: The president of the Senate declared a recess, and the protesters celebrated.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: (Chanting in Spanish).
PERALTA: "Traitors, traitors," they chanted.
This amendment was a central issue during this summer's general elections in Mexico. The ruling party argued the country's judiciary was so corrupt it needed an overhaul. They proposed a constitutional amendment that would change the way federal judges became judges. Instead of being appointed, they would instead be elected by the people. When elections came, the Mexican people handed the ruling party a landslide, the supermajority needed to change the constitution.
But constitutional experts, Human Rights Watch and the U.S. and Canada said the amendment was a terrible idea that threatens judicial independence. Most big liberal democracies, they said, purposely don't elect judges to shield them from the influence of politics. The whole federal judiciary went on strike. Even Supreme Court justices took to the streets. But the protesters' victory was short-lived.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: The Senate regrouped at an alternate building, and early this morning, they approved the amendment. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said, gone are the days that judges will answer to a, quote, "predatory minority that have dedicated themselves to looting this nation."
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRESIDENT ANDRES MANUEL LOPEZ OBRADOR: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: "We will give the world an example," he said.
The president will sign the amendment, but legal experts say there will be challenges, and the current Supreme Court may end up having to decide whether this reform is constitutional.
Eyder Peralta, NPR News, Mexico City. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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