Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the Mexican president, announced that Mexico would suspend relations with U.S. and Canadian embassies after receiving letters and statements. According to the president, diplomatic officials from both nations have spoken out against his proposed reform of the judicial system that calls for open elections every year for federal judges.

“They must learn to respect Mexico’s sovereignty,” Lopez Obrador stated during his morning press conference. The Mexican politician claimed that he wasn’t kicking them out but was simply pausing their relationship until they learn not to interfere in Mexico’s government.

This move comes only days after U.S. The Canadian ambassador Graeme Clark and Ambassador Ken Salazar both claimed that an independent judicial system was an essential part of a democracy and that elected judges opened the door for corruption and cartel influences. In his letter to Breitbart Texas, Salazar noted that he was a lawyer for over 25 years before becoming a diplomat. He also said that as a politician, he understood the importance of an independent judiciary.

AMLO’s party and AMLO are pushing a judicial overhaul that would see federal judges elected yearly and other measures implemented that, according to scholars, would bind the hands of a truly independent judiciary. Political opponents say that the judicial reform is an attempt by Lopez Obrador’s party to control all three branches of government. Most sitting judges have been on strike in protest against the move. Lopez Obrador’s MORENA party is pushing ahead with the measure.