'Nobody appointed me': Hugo Aguilar Ortiz, president-elect of the SCJN

Hugo Aguilar Ortiz, president-elect of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) for the first two years following the judicial election , stated that no party appointed him to the position, and therefore requested a vote of confidence for the new Supreme Court, which will begin operating on September 1.

After receiving from the president of the National Electoral Institute (INE), Guadalupe Taddei , the certificate accrediting him as the most voted candidate, and which was written in Mixtec, Aguilar Ortiz said that he decided to run as a candidate to take advantage of the historic opportunity for indigenous peoples and that his victory is not due to accordions but to collective will.

"I made the personal decision, and there are many Indigenous leaders here with whom we made the decision. No one put me in charge; it was a collective decision with the communities. I can testify here. I personally made the decision because it was a historic opportunity for Indigenous peoples," he stated at his first press conference.

Minutes earlier, the INE declared the election valid in a split vote and proceeded to deliver the certificates to the nine members of the Court . Upon receiving the document, Hugo Aguilar gave a speech in Mixtec and stated that he had spoken with his colleagues and that they agreed on building "justice for all."

"Therefore, I reiterate my request for a vote of confidence in the new Supreme Court and the new Judiciary . We are going to build justice for all," he said.

The president-elect of the Supreme Court used his speech to launch a dart at Lorenzo Córdova , former president of the INE, and Edmundo Jacobo Molina , former head of the Executive Secretariat of the same, who mocked indigenous peoples in a leaked audio.

"The days when our words, our requests, and even our mere presence were cause for ridicule and discrimination in these very institutions are over," he noted.

María Estela Ríos , former legal advisor to former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, also guaranteed independence: “I will not follow any instructions, neither from Morena, nor from the PAN, nor from the PRI, nor from the petty economic interests that later tend to try to influence the decisions of the Supreme Court ,” she said.

Regarding matters that may come before the Court and are being promoted by President Claudia Sheinbaum , the elected minister said that "if the president is correct in her legal arguments, we will address them through the Legal Counsel ; if not, we will operate with independent judgment. That is the guarantee I can give all of you."

The INE also issued the total of the election of ministers and the following results were established: Hugo Aguilar Ortiz received 5,900,789 votes; Lenia Batres Guadarrama , 5,534,681 votes; Yasmín Esquivel Mossa , 4,985,925 votes; Loretta Ortiz Ahlf , 4,736,571 votes and will be the fourth president; María Estela Ríos González, had 4,440,634 votes.

The four justices who received the fewest votes, and therefore will not preside over the Court, are Giovanni Azael Figueroa Mejía , with 3,411,191 votes; Irving Espinosa Betanzo , with 3,354,485 votes; Arístides Rodrigo Guerrero García , with 3,278,988 votes; and Sara Irene Herrerías Guerra , with 3,053,788 votes.