The former president of the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) of the state of Guerrero, Edmundo Román, was shot dead by armed men while trying to leave a parking lot last December. This tragic event occurred months before the elections in which thousands of candidates will compete for positions as judges and federal magistrates, marking a shift in the Mexican judicial system after years of impunity.
The public exposure of candidates has generated fears that they will become easy targets. Ynocente Orduño, former president of the judges' association of Guerrero, expressed that everyone is at risk of suffering an attack. Two legal professionals in Acapulco believe that the attack on Román could be related to his work, although authorities have not officially revealed the motive for the crime.
The vacant position left by the magistrate is expected to be included in the ballot for the local judicial elections scheduled for 2027 in Guerrero. The judicial reform approved last year provides for an electoral process in June in which about five thousand candidates will compete for more than 840 federal positions, including Supreme Court magistrates.
The intelligence director of Global Guardian, Mike Ballard, highlighted the threat of violence in the electoral process, warning about the possibility of cartels influencing the election of judges. Experts question how the government will guarantee the safety of candidates, especially in a country facing a budget crisis and a weakened police force, the National Guard, focused on collaborating with the U.S. on border security.
Although the National Electoral Institute (INE) acts as a mediator between candidates and authorities for reporting threats, the responsibility to provide protection falls on the federal government. Claudia Zavala, electoral advisor of the INE, indicated that any security request is channeled to the relevant authorities, although no specific plans or allocated resources have been detailed.
Concerns about the safety of candidates extend among judicial professionals, aware of the violence that has claimed the lives of at least 22 of their colleagues since 2012 in Mexico. The financial difficulty of protecting all candidates poses a challenge but emphasizes the need to take the situation seriously. The lack of effective security measures and the history of violence in Guerrero create unease among workers in the judicial system.
