By Cassandra Garrison
ACAPULCO, Mexico (Reuters) – Clerical workers in an Acapulco courthouse heard the shots ring out as they were wrapping up their workday. Gunmen had opened fire on Magistrate Edmundo Roman Pinzon, a former president of the highest court in Guerrero state, killing him instantly as he tried to pull out of the parking lot.
The December 11 killing happened months before thousands of candidates will vie for federal judge and magistrate positions in an election that marks a sea change in how Mexico runs its judicial system after years of rampant lawlessness.
In a country that last year endured the bloodiest political elections in its modern history, the heightened public exposure of those competing for the prestigious posts has sparked fears that the candidates will be easy targets.
“Undoubtedly all of us are at risk to suffer an attack,” Ynocente Orduno, former president of Guerrero’s judges’ association, said in an interview at his office in the courthouse where Roman was killed.
Roman’s position is expected to be on the ballot in Guerrero’s local judicial elections slated for 2027.
Two legal professionals in Acapulco who knew Roman and spoke to Reuters said many in the community believe the magistrate was targeted directly for his work.
Guerrero’s attorney general and Mexico’s security secretary have announced at least three arrests in the case, including a person suspected of links to organized crime, according to local media.
Authorities have not disclosed a motive and the prosecutor declined to comment.
The June 1 elections are part of a reform passed last year that overhauls the country’s judicial system.
Around 5,000 candidates are vying for more than 840 federal positions in June, including Supreme Court justices. Another 1,737 candidates will compete for local positions in 17 states. Other states will hold their local elections in the coming years.
President Claudia Sheinbaum’s mentor and predecessor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said the reform was necessary to root out corruption and better serve the interests of ordinary citizens.
But it has raised fears that judges will be targeted by criminal gangs.
Ahead of the 2024 elections that Sheinbaum and her party won in a landslide, 37 candidates were assassinated, which human rights monitors largely link to organized crime.
Reuters spoke to six judicial professionals, security experts, politicians and academics who questioned how the government will keep the election safe.
Mexico is up against a budget crunch and a depleted National Guard as it focuses on collaboration with the United States at its shared border.
“Mexico is going through a very important (deficit) crisis, there will not be money for these conditions,” said Jose Ramon Cossio of Tec de Monterrey university, a former Mexican Supreme Court justice.
Mexico’s autonomous election body INE serves as a conduit between candidates who report threats and authorities, but any protection measures fall to the federal government, according to Claudia Zavala, an electoral advisor at INE.
A spokeswoman for Sheinbaum reiterated INE’s role in requesting security for candidates and said “normally, if there is a request, security is assigned to them.”
She did not elaborate on a specific plan or budget resources dedicated to candidate security.
‘JUSTICE BY THE STRONGEST’
Orduno, a judge of almost three decades, acknowledged it would be financially difficult for the government to fully protect every candidate, but implored officials to take the issue more seriously.
At least 22 local judicial professionals, including Roman, have been killed in Mexico since 2012, according to think tank Mexico Evalua.
In the majority of cases, authorities did not publicize the motives for the killings, though Mexico Evalua found at least four to be associated with the judges’ work.
When Reuters visited the courthouse in Acapulco’s rough Las Playas neighborhood in February, a state police officer stood outside.
At the door, there were no security checks and no surveillance cameras. Members of the public moved freely between floors. An abandoned car with smashed windows sat parked outside.
Guerrero state is one of the most dangerous areas of the country to campaign.
A mayoral candidate in the town of Coyuca de Benitez was shot point-blank at a rally just days before the 2024 elections.
In October, the newly sworn-in mayor of state capital Chilpancingo was brutally murdered and decapitated.
“I could foresee a scenario where (cartels) are supporting a particular candidate, and another candidate on the other side is equally as popular.
The threat of violence or coercion is very strong,” said Mike Ballard, director of intelligence at international security firm Global Guardian.
“Then you end up with a number of judges who are in the pockets of the cartels, which is not going to be a positive thing for fairness or democracy in Mexico,” Ballard said.
Sheinbaum is trying to control a worsening security crisis in the country, which has recorded an average of 78 homicides daily since she took office in October, according to pollster TResearch.
Without real protection available, cartels could strong-arm their opponents to drop out, said Cossio, the former Supreme Court justice.
“If Mexico is left without justice, you are opening the doors for justice by the strongest,” said Cossio.
NOT ENOUGH POLICE
Ramiro Solorio, an attorney and law professor who has made three unsuccessful bids for mayor of Acapulco, knows the risks.
When he started receiving death threats ahead of last year’s election, Solorio reported them and INE activated a protocol that prompted protection by the National Guard.
“There will not be enough police to follow each candidate,” Solorio said.
He pointed to security for government officials and questioned why it should be different for those in the judicial branch.
“The president, the governor, secretaries… they have security even for their families,” Solorio said.
On a recent visit to Acapulco, Guerrero Governor Evelyn Salgado was flanked by members of her security team as she prepared to depart a busy street after speaking to journalists.
Asked about candidate security, Salgado said coordination with Sheinbaum’s administration has been “perfect.”
“As always, a security protocol that we have for each election will be followed to guarantee that the elections are peaceful,” Salgado said.
Then her team ushered her into an SUV and drove away.
(Reporting by Cassandra Garrison; Editing by Christian Plumb and Claudia Parsons)
