Protesters storm Mexico Senate amid controversial judicial reform debate News
Haakon S. Krohn, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Protesters storm Mexico Senate amid controversial judicial reform debate

Hundreds of protesters breached Mexico’s Senate on Tuesday as lawmakers deliberated a controversial reform to overhaul the judiciary. The disorder forced the Senate to suspend its session temporarily, citing safety concerns for the legislators inside.

Amid the final vote on the contested judicial reform approved by Mexico’s Senate committees last Sunday, hundreds of demonstrators voiced their opposition to the reform throughout the day. The protests are part of a mounting campaign against the judicial reform proposed by the Mexican president, which includes measures such as electing judges, magistrates, and Supreme Court justices through popular vote, among other changes strongly criticized by rights organizations.

The protest began in the early afternoon, with demonstrators calling for the protection of judicial independence. Later, protesters forced their way into the Senate chamber, chanting slogans such as “The judiciary will not fall.” Among the demonstrators were college students from various law faculties, who chanted phrases like “Mexico endures, the people rise.” Due to the disruption at the chamber, the Senate issued a statement announcing the suspension of the session.

Subsequently, the Senate issued a statement declaring the resumption of the session at an alternative location, asserting that the protest was “an attempt to undermine the exercise of the Legislative Power, affecting…the democratic institutions of the Mexican state.” The statement was accompanied by a post from Senate President Fernández Noroña on X, announcing the resumption of the session and stating, “There will be a judicial reform.”

Protests continued outside the alternate Senate location, resulting in a clash between protesters and police forces, which intensified following the support for the reform by opposition senator Miguel Ángel Yunes, which could provide the necessary votes for the approval of the judicial reform.

The Senate members relocated to the historic Casona de Xicoténcatl to continue its debate, which led to the reform being approved on Wednesday.

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