Mexican senators rejected constitutional electricity reforms at the centre of diplomatic tensions with the United States, dealing a setback to President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who accused his opponents of abandoning the country on Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lopez Obrador pushed for the reforms to strengthen the state-owned energy company and undo the effects of previous governments’ deregulation, which he argues benefitted private businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His intentions, however, upset the US and Canada, raising worries that Mexico might be breaking its trade agreements by favouring state-run enterprises that are largely reliant on fossil fuels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The president’s Morena party failed to gain the two-thirds majority needed to change the constitution during a long session in the lower chamber of Congress on Easter Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“An act of treason against Mexico by a number of lawmakers who, instead of protecting the interests of the people and the nation, opted to be loud advocates of foreign enterprises,” Lopez Obrador said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sergio Gutierrez, the president of the lower house, said that the measure had 275 votes in favour and 223 votes against it, with no abstentions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gutierrez had previously accused the opposition of wanting to remain “imperialist lackeys” in foreign firms’ service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, conservative National Action Party member Jorge Romero claimed that the law would set the country “back 50 years” in terms of environmental protection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The amendments would have given the state-owned Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) at least 54 percent of the electricity market, which the government claims is necessary to keep power costs from rising.
The measure also proposed establishing a governmental monopoly on lithium mining, a critical component of electric vehicle batteries.
With defeat imminent, Lopez Obrador introduced separate legislation on Sunday to combine lithium industry changes into a mining law, which may be passed with a simple majority because it is not a constitutional amendment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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