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DE RUEHME #3648/01 3622248
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O 282248Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY MEXICO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9576
INFO RUEHXC/ALL US CONSULATES IN MEXICO COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MEXICO 003648 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR MX
SUBJECT: SENATE APPROVES TWO NEW MINISTERS FOR MEXICO'S EVOLVING 
SUPREME COURT 
 
¶1.  Summary:  On December 1, the Senate approved two new Supreme 
Court ministers with little public debate or review of their 
qualifications.  Luis Maria Aguilar Morales and Arturo Zaldivar Lelo 
de Larrea assume their prestigious positions at a crucial time in 
the court's development.  Over recent years, the Supreme Court has 
taken moderate steps to assert its independence after 70 years of 
one party rule.  While the opaque process for nominations suggests 
more room for growth in terms of transparency, both ministers appear 
well qualified and offer hope for less political bias on cases in 
the future.  End summary. 
 
The Senate Chooses... 
¶2.  (SBU) Mexico's Supreme Court consists of nine ministers, two of 
whom recently retired when they reached the end of their 15 year 
terms.  On December 1, the Senate approved Luis Maria Aguilar 
Morales and Arturo Zaldivar Lelo de Larrea as new Supreme Court 
Ministers at the conclusion of an underwhelming selection process. 
Aguilar and Zaldivar replace outgoing ministers Mariano Azuela 
Guitron and Genaro Gongora Pimentel.  The Senate chose from six 
candidates - a list of three for each vacancy -- nominated by the 
President.  During a Senate hearing held December 1, each aspirant 
had fifteen minutes to present to Senators his qualifications, 
philosophy, and reasons for wanting to serve on the court.  After 
their brief presentations, 91 PRI, PAN, and PRD Senators voted to 
approve Aguilar and 90 members of the same parties voted to approve 
Zaldivar, easily meeting the 2/3 majority (Mexico's Senate has 128 
Senators) required by the Constitution.  Labor Party (PT) Senator 
Ricardo Monreal proposed postponing the vote one week to have more 
time to investigate the candidates, but his proposal was rejected 
prior to voting.  Other Senators, including Alejandro Gonzalez 
Alcocer (PAN President of the Justice Committee) and Pablo Gomez 
(PRD), complained to the press about the lack of information 
available on the candidates, but neither explained his vote after 
the hearing. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Not only was the Senate vetting process short and shallow 
(Calderon submitted to the Senate his list of nominations only eight 
days prior to the vote), so too was the vetting of the new ministers 
in the press.  Major media outlets gave little coverage to the 
candidates and their qualifications prior to the vote, but 
accurately predicted that Aguilar and Zaldivar would be selected, 
indicating party negotiations had helped position both.  After the 
confirmation of Attorney General (PGR) Arturo Chavez Chavez, rumors 
swirled that the PRI had agreed to approve Calderon's PGR nominee in 
exchange for its pick of President of the National Human Rights 
Commission and a seat on the Supreme Court.   Although insiders have 
played this one close to the vest, some commentators have suggested 
Zaldivar was backed by the PAN while Aguilar's long legal history 
appears to link him to the PRI. 
 
...Two New Ministers with Long Legal Histories. 
¶4.  (U)  With long careers in law and the judiciary, Aguilar and 
Zaldivar easily satisfied the basic eligibility requirements for 
their new positions. Article 95 of the Mexican Constitution requires 
that a Supreme Court minister: 
-be a Mexican citizen by birth, 
-be at least 35 years old, 
-have held a law degree for at least ten years, 
-have a good reputation and never have been convicted of a crime 
that carries a penalty of a year or more in prison, 
-have lived in the country for at least two years prior to being 
nominated, 
-not have been a State Secretary, Chief of Administration, Attorney 
General, Senator, Federal Deputy, or Governor in the year prior to 
his nomination. 
 
¶5.  (SBU)  Born in Mexico City in 1949, Luis Aguilar most recently 
served as a member of the Judicial Council, a board belonging to the 
judicial branch of government which oversees the nomination, 
ratification, and removal of circuit magistrates and district 
judges.   Aguilar was named to that post in 2004 after a long career 
in which he had served as a Supreme Court clerk, Chief of Staff to 
the Supreme Court President, and Administrative Secretary of 
Communications for the Supreme Court.  He has also been a district 
judge and circuit magistrate in Morelos and Mexico City, serving in 
six different courts since 1985.  He won the National Legion of 
Honor for Judicial Merit Award, is an honorary member of the Mexican 
Institute for the "Amparo" (a nonprofit legal organization that 
promotes analysis and debate of the Mexican Constitution), and was a 
representative to the Mexican Association of Judges (an entity of 
the Supreme Court dedicated to the implementation of the 2008 
judicial reform).  Of the two new ministers, many Supreme Court 
watchers predict he will be a more conservative, traditionalist 
minister.  However, observers also predict his conservative approach 
may prove more technical than ideological.  In his presentation 
before the Senate, he emphasized his commitment to human rights and 
equality. 
 
¶6. (SBU)  While Aguilar has a long history serving as a judge and 
deciding cases, Arturo Zaldivar's background is primarily academic. 
 
MEXICO 00003648  002 OF 002 
 
 
He graduated from the Free School of Law and went on to get his 
Doctorate from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), 
where he focused mainly on Constitutional law.   He has taught at 
various universities, including UNAM, the Autonomous Technical 
Institute of Mexico (ITAM), and the Pan-American University.  He is 
on a number of committees, including the academic committee for the 
Federal Judicial Institute and the technical committee for the 
Mexican Judicial Reform Magazine, edited by the Supreme Court of 
Sonora.  Additionally, he serves in a number of academic 
institutions, such as the Ibero-American Institute for 
Constitutional Law and the Mexican Institute of Constitutional 
Process Law.  Prior to his appointment to the Supreme Court, he 
practiced law for a private firm and wrote numerous articles on 
issues such as the amparo, oil reform, and the Constitution.  He 
maintains a website and a Facebook page.  Many observers predict he 
will be a more liberal minister with a modern vision for the role of 
the Court in Mexican democracy.  Embassy contact and political 
analyst Sabino Bastidas described Zaldivar as "brilliant."   He 
predicted Zaldivar would help usher in a new judicial era and 
thought Zaldivar would support implementation of Mexico's justice 
reform system.  In his presentation before the Senate, Zaldivar 
emphasized the importance of basic rights and portrayed himself as a 
defender of individual freedoms.   Zaldivar's nomination tips the 
balance of members as he joins the new majority of ministers who 
have not served as career judges.  For the first time in Mexico's 
history, Mexico's highest court is composed of more former lawyers 
and academics than judges. 
 
The Outgoing Ministers... 
¶7.  (SBU)  Aguilar and Zaldivar replace Gongora and Azuela as the 
latter two had reached the end of their 15 year term limit.  Gongora 
and Azuela occupied opposite ends of Mexico's ideological spectrum. 
Gongora is a leftist and friend of PRD leader Andres Manuel Lopez 
Obrador;  Azuela boasts conservative opinions and appears to have 
backed Felipe Calderon during his presidential bid.  (Note: Azuela 
attended meetings with former President Fox at the President's 
residence to discuss stripping Lopez Obrador of his immunity as 
Mexico City Mayor, making him vulnerable to prosecution and therein 
ineligible to run for president.  Azuela denies that he made any 
decisions, pushed any agenda, or violated the Constitution in any 
way.  Nonetheless, his attendance created the perception that he was 
allied with the center-right Fox administration against Obrador. 
End Note) 
 
...Generate Subdued Public Reaction 
¶8.  (SBU) Public reaction towards the incoming and outgoing 
ministers has been subdued; the recent nominations have generated 
little public interest and few media stories.  Some editorialists 
lamented the quick rush to approve the candidates with minimal 
debate.  The news outlets that covered the hearing provided few 
details on the deliberation process and declined to interview the 
leading Senators on judicial issues.  In general, the public seems 
satisfied with the new ministers but discontent with the section 
process. 
 
¶9. Comment:  Although in many ways the Supreme Court has proven its 
growing independence by making rulings against the government 
(reftels), the closed and shallow approval of the newest ministers 
suggests the Court still has a way to go to fully evolve into a 
democratic and independent institution.  The Senate process was 
brief and public scrutiny was practically non-existent.  The 
President did not explain his nominee choices and no Senators 
publically explained their vote.  Such limitations restrict the 
potential for information on possible conflicts of interest from 
emerging and deprive the public of a chance to review thoroughly the 
qualifications of nominees to the highest court in Mexico.  Despite 
the opaque nomination process, the Senate appears to have chosen two 
well qualified candidates who will most likely maintain the balance 
of the current court.   Aguilar brings decades of judicial 
experience and a more traditionalist worldview, while Zaldivar 
brings years of research and a more modern outlook.  We expect the 
Court will continue to evolve into a more independent body and 
become bolder over time in making rulings based on law that are 
occasionally critical of the standing government. 
 
PASCUAL