Cecilia Sánchez Vidal

3 weeks ago | latimes.com | Patrick McDonnell |Cecilia Sánchez Vidal

Mexican citizens went to the polls Sunday to elect thousands of judges in a historic vote championed by President Claudia Sheinbaum as an essential democratic reform — and assailed by opponents and many legal experts as a crude maneuver to consolidate ruling-party power. The vote marked the first time that Mexico has elected judges, who until now have been appointed by review panels after passing a series of legal exams — or, in the case of Supreme Court justices, after presidential nominations.

3 weeks ago | miamiherald.com | Patrick McDonnell |Kate Linthicum |Cecilia Sánchez Vidal

MEXICO CITY - Hyper-democracy or ruling-party power play? That is the question as Mexicans go to the polls Sunday to elect the country's judges in a radical reshaping of the nation's power structure. At a time when many observers fear that President Trump is targeting judicial independence in the U.S., lawmakers here have opted to revamp the judiciary in a landmark - and extremely divisive - reform.

4 weeks ago | latimes.com | Patrick McDonnell |Kate Linthicum |Cecilia Sánchez Vidal

Judges in Mexico used to be appointed. Now all state and federal judges, including justices on the Supreme Court, will be elected. Mexico will become the first nation with an all-elected judiciary. Mexicans go to the polls to elect judges on Sunday. Hyper-democracy or ruling-party power play? That is the question as Mexicans go to the polls Sunday to elect the country’s judges in a radical reshaping of the nation’s power structure.

1 month ago | latimes.com | Patrick McDonnell |Cecilia Sánchez Vidal

It has become a kind of rallying cry: Teuchitlán, the township in the western state of Jalisco where searchers made a macabre discovery — a ranch of horrors featuring makeshift crematoria and hundreds of abandoned shoes, backpacks, T-shirts and other personal effects. News reports proclaimed it the “Mexican Auschwitz,” an apparent cartel killing ground. Now “Teuchitlán” blares from protest banners, headlines and street graffiti, shorthand for a pervasive sense of deception and unease.

1 month ago | latimes.com | Patrick McDonnell |Cecilia Sánchez Vidal

A woman hangs a portrait of a missing person during a protest in Mexico City on Aug. 30, 2023, to mark International Day of the Disappeared. The recent disappearance and death of an Indigenous activist has spurred outrage in Mexico. She was a fearless advocate for her Mixe Indigenous community, a lawyer and mother who denounced violence against women — while also exposing misogynist chat groups among politicians in Mexico’s southern Oaxaca state.