LÓPEZ OBRADOR LASHES OUT AT TOP COURT JUSTICE
Mexico's president lashed out Wednesday at the chief justice of the country's Supreme Court, accusing her of promoting rulings favorable to criminal suspects.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's comments opened a new debate over the separation of powers in Mexico, at a time when the Supreme Court is expected to rule on the president's controversial cuts to election agency funding.
López Obrador has already attacked independent regulatory agencies, slammed the judiciary and cut funding for the National Electoral Institute.
Opponents say the electoral cuts threaten Mexico's democracy, and have appealed them to the Supreme Court.
López Obrador's comments Wednesday opened a head-on conflict between the administration and Supreme Court Chief Justice
Norma Piña, the first woman to hold that post.
The president was angered after a judge issued an injunction striking down an arrest warrant against Francisco Garcia Cabeza de Vaca, a former governor of Tamaulipas, who had been accused of corruption.
López Obrador said the ruling was unjust, and claimed that had become the norm under Piña. He has pledged to bring criminal cases against any judge accused of corruption.
“This is not about interfering with another branch of government,” he said. “This is about not tolerating injustice and corruption.”
But he has indicated in the past that he assumes that any court ruling against his initiatives is the result of corruption, influence peddling or vested interests.
The Supreme Court had no immediate reaction to López Obrador's comments.