Mexican demonstrators block access to legislature amid judicial reform push 

Mexican demonstrators have continued to voice their opposition to controversial judicial reforms pushed by the country’s ruling party and outgoing President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, also known as AMLO.

On Tuesday, striking judiciary workers blocked access to the country’s Supreme Court and Congress, where Lopez Obrador’s Morena party is expected to move forward with reforms that include the direct election of judges.

Lopez Obrador has insisted that the reforms will help combat corruption, but opponents say it will decrease professionalism and open the judiciary to greater political influence.

“The party with the majority could take control of the judicial branch, and that would practically be the end of democracy,” demonstrator Javier Reyes, a 37-year-old federal court worker, told the Associated Press news outlet.

As protests raged outside government buildings in Mexico City, the justices of the country’s Supreme Court voted to take part in the strike.

By a vote of eight to three, the justices agreed to stop work and join the protests, according to a statement released on Tuesday.