Election of Mexico’s first Indigenous Supreme Court justice in 170 years raises hope and skepticism

In his campaign for Mexico’s Supreme Court, Hugo Aguilar sent a simple message: He would be the one to finally give Indigenous Mexicans a voice at one of the highest levels of government.

“It’s our turn as Indigenous people … to make decisions in this country,” he said in the lead up to Sunday’s first judicial elections in Mexican history.

Now, the 52-year-old Aguilar, a lawyer from the Mixtec people in Mexico’s southern Oaxaca state, will be the first Indigenous Supreme Court justice in nearly 170 years in the Latin American nation, according to Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum. He could lead the high court. The last Indigenous justice to do so was Mexican hero and former President Benito Juárez, who ran the court from 1857 to 1858.

For some, Aguilar has become a symbol of hope for 23 million Indigenous people long on the forgotten fringes of Mexican society. But others fiercely criticize his past, and worry that instead of representing them, he will instead stand with the ruling party, Morena, that ushered him onto the court.

Supporters cite Aguilar’s long history of working on Indigenous rights, while critics say that more recently he’s helped push the governing party’s agenda, including former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s massive infrastructure projects, at the expense of Indigenous communities. Aguilar’s team said he would not comment until after official results were confirmed.

Aguilar was elected in Mexico’s first judicial election, a process that’s been criticized as weakening Mexico’s system of checks and balances.