In a move that could redefine the future of Mexico’s judiciary, Hugo Aguilar, a Mixtec lawyer, constitutional law expert, and long-time advocate for Indigenous rights, is poised to become the country’s next chief justice, following a historic nationwide vote that asked Mexicans to do something they’ve never done before: elect their entire judiciary.
Yes, you read that correctly. Forget shadowy appointments and Senate wrangling — Mexico just crowdsourced its Supreme Court.
Thanks to a radical judicial reform pushed through by the governing Morena party, Sunday’s vote marked the first time Mexicans directly selected judges at every level, from traffic court all the way up to the constitutional summit. And while voter enthusiasm for the ballot was about as strong as a decaf espresso (a record-low 13% turnout), the implications could be seismic.
Leading the count for the country’s top legal job is Hugo Aguilar, a 51-year-old legal heavyweight with a curriculum vitae that reads like a manifesto for justice.
Aguilar, who hails from Oaxaca and belongs to the Mixtec Indigenous group, has spent his career walking the fine line between legal reform and grassroots advocacy. Most notably, he served as a legal adviser during the Zapatista negotiations of the 1990s, when the EZLN an Indigenous guerrilla group that burst onto the international stage in 1994 clashed with the Mexican state over land, autonomy, and inequality.
More recently, he’s worked within the system as the rights coordinator for the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples (INPI), where he has championed everything from land rights to legal access for marginalised communities.
“It’s time Indigenous and Afro-Mexican peoples take a seat on the Supreme Court,” Aguilar said during his campaign — not so much asking as declaring.
He’s been highly critical of the current judicial establishment, describing it as stuck in the amber of elite traditions and “principles that don’t drive real change.” His campaign struck a chord with voters hungry for representation and reform or at least with the 13% who turned out.
A Judiciary on the Ballot — and in the Crosshairs
Aguilar’s likely victory is historic, but not without controversy. Critics argue that allowing voters many of whom may struggle to name even one Supreme Court justice to decide on technical, often opaque judicial appointments is risky business. Some warn that the process has been too politicised, especially as candidates aligned with Morena look set to take the majority of the remaining eight Supreme Court seats.
Supporters, on the other hand, say the reform is long overdue, a necessary disruption to a judiciary long accused of being out of touch and unaccountable. President Claudia Sheinbaum has already declared the election a win for democracy turnout be damned.
Still, the public’s lukewarm reception suggests most Mexicans were less than thrilled about voting for judges, possibly because it’s hard to get excited about a bench that doesn’t promise lower gas prices or free tacos.
Yet if Aguilar takes the robe as the numbers suggest, it won’t just be a win for judicial reform. It will be a symbolic leap forward for a country where nearly 20% of the population identifies as Indigenous, yet their presence in the upper echelons of government has remained mostly ceremonial.
From Rebel Lawyer to Chief Justice?
Aguilar’s rise is a story of transformation: from negotiating on behalf of Zapatistas in the jungles of Chiapas, to now being on the brink of leading Mexico’s Supreme Court. It’s a narrative that feels almost cinematic if Aaron Sorkin wrote Spanish-language courtroom dramas.
So while much of the judiciary may soon wear Morena’s political shade, Aguilar brings something different to the table: a deeply rooted, legally literate, and community conscious perspective that could shake the Supreme Court out of its glass-tower slumber.
Whether that’s what the judiciary needs or can even stomach remains to be seen. But one thing is clear: justice in Mexico may soon be wearing huaraches.
