This Friday, Judge Rafael Guerra was re-elected as president of the Mexico City Superior Court (TSJ), receiving more than the two-thirds majority (60 votes in favor, 79 votes in favor) needed to secure his continuation. Guerra, a legal scholar close to former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador who has held the position since 2019, will be sworn in for a third term as head of the court despite calls for change from judges and protests from workers following the murder of lawyer David Cohen. This will be the last election to be held by a vote of magistrates, as new positions will be popularly elected at the next election in 2027.
Mr. Guerra was re-elected, reversing the positions of Rosalba Guerrero and Celia Marin, who had hoped to change the future of the judiciary. Both men told this newspaper that the scenario has changed from when they faced off against Guerra, who has turned TSJ into his fiefdom. The magistrate has come forward as one of five candidates seeking the post of chief judge of the Metropolitan High Court and is seeking re-election for the period from January 1, 2026 to August 31, 2027. Among them were Ramon Alejandro Senties Carriles, who received 6 votes, and Rosalba Guerrero, who received 10 votes. The other judges who voted were Celia Marin and Arturo Eduardo García Salcedo. Both received one vote each.
Guerra singled out the working class in his pre-vote speech, saying: “This plan remains a commitment to the working class. The women and men who make up the working class are the beginning and end of our institutions. They constitute the basis of our strength.” And he argued that this election is an opportunity. “Mexico City’s judiciary faces great challenges, but it also faces a great opportunity to prove that it is humane and sensitive,” he said.
The election came on the heels of the killing of lawyer David Cohen, who was shot several times in broad daylight near TSJ headquarters in mid-October and died hours later at a hospital in the capital. An incident that shakes public safety in the capital. Some experts called the decision an insult to Rafael Guerra because of his alleged closeness with Cohen. TSJ’s chairman has previously denied and denied that they were planning to meet on the same day, saying: “There were no promises, no informal meetings, no conversations between Mr. Cohen and Mr. Guerra.”
While the extraordinary Congress was voting, TSJ workers demonstrated near Judiciary City against Mr. Guerra’s re-election. The argument points to deteriorating working conditions, low wages, and backlogs in the courts due to the disappearance of 24 courts for civil cases and 12 courts for family cases, which Mr. Guerra ordered to implement the so-called National Civil and Family Procedure Law.
Mr. Guerra has succeeded in establishing a strong presence within the judicial system. He had to leave his post on September 1st, but the day before he managed to get permission to run again for Mexico’s city council, extending his post until the end of the year. Mr. Guerra also attempted to become a candidate for the Supreme Court of the Nation (SCJN), but was unable to make the cut due to his academic average.
(Breaking news. Details will be released soon)
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