⚖️ Power grabs, illegal digs

MEXICO

Is Mexico’s Morena diversity washing a power grab?

Not since Benito Juárez, the 19th-century Zapotec statesman who led Mexico as president five times and once presided over the Supreme Court, has an indigenous legal scholar ascended to the pinnacle of the country’s judiciary. That changed with the election of Hugo Aguilar, a Mixtec lawyer from Oaxaca, as Mexico’s new chief justice.

Aguilar’s promotion carries profound symbolic weight in a nation where indigenous identity is deeply woven into the cultural and political fabric. His selection came amid the country’s first-ever judicial elections — an unprecedented and highly contentious reform to Mexico’s legal system that continues to divide public opinion.

Born in 1973 in the southern state of Oaxaca, a region tied to indigenous heritage and political resistance, Aguilar has built a legal career rooted in advocacy for native peoples. He served as general coordinator for indigenous rights under the Andrés Manuel “AMLO” López Obrador administration (2018-2024), advising on high-stakes projects such as the Mayan Train, a controversial infrastructure project criticized for its environmental and social impact…

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