Ex-lawyer of 'Chapo' Guzmán wins election for Mexico's criminal judge

The recent judicial elections in Mexico, held to choose hundreds of judges, magistrates, and ministers for the first time in history, clearly favored pro-government candidates. They also opened the door for lawyers who defend drug traffickers and failed to address other crucial legislative reforms needed in the country.

The result: a failure that left the Judicial Branch fragmented and raised serious doubts about the independence of the justice system from political parties and organized crime.

One of the biggest scandals of the June 1 election was related to the qualifications of some candidates.

The fact that dozens of candidates vying for the 881 positions had records including allegations of sexual harassment, corruption, influence peddling, kidnapping, links to murders, and even direct “professional” ties to drug lords raised serious questions about a project imposed by former leftist president Andrés Manuel López Obrador and carried out by his successor, Claudia Sheinbaum.

What’s most surprising is that despite protests, opposition, and lawsuits against about a hundred candidates for their “unreliability,” many were still elected to judicial positions across Mexico. Today, they hold posts in the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJN), the Judicial Tribunal, the Superior Chamber of the TEPJF, regional chambers of the Electoral Tribunal, and as magistrates or judges in various Mexican cities.

These individuals are the ones overseeing justice in a country where impunity rates hover around 99%.

The case of Silvia Delgado

A former lawyer for Mexican drug trafficker Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán won enough votes to lead a criminal court in a Mexican city bordering the U.S., according to the official results of the unprecedented judicial election published Tuesday afternoon by the National Electoral Institute (INE).

Silvia Delgado, who defended the founder of the violent Sinaloa cartel before his 2017 extradition to the United States—where he is now serving a life sentence—ran for a court position in the northern state of Chihuahua.

The local INE completed the vote count, showing that this lawyer—publicly exposed before the elections—ranked second among female candidates. If her election is confirmed, she will become one of the five members leading one of Chihuahua’s criminal courts.

Delgado applied to become a first-instance criminal judge in Ciudad Juárez, which borders the U.S. city of El Paso, Texas.

Although she stated in several interviews that her only relationship with Guzmán was professional, the lawyer was identified by the NGO Defensoresxs as one of about twenty “risky” candidates.

Her public profile also lists him as a lecturer. In June 2023, she promoted an event exclusively for women called “My Sexuality Without Taboo,” which included the sale of sex toys.

Mexico's Supreme Court and the hand of AMLO

Mexican justice will be led by indigenous lawyer Hugo Aguilar. Aguilar received the most votes among aspiring magistrates and, by law, will head Mexico’s Supreme Court.

Born in 1973 in the southern state of Oaxaca, Aguilar is a lawyer with a master’s degree in constitutional law. He previously served as an official under former President López Obrador at the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples (INPI). The rest of the Supreme Court justices (eight judges) are also aligned with AMLO’s government, with several appointed by him.

Complementary elections are scheduled for 2027.