Guadalajara -
Today is the 97th anniversary of the adoption of Mexico's Constitution of 1917. But while president Enrique Peña Nieto and other government dignitaries celebrated the occasion in Querétaro, ultra leftist politician Andrés Manuel López Obrador filed a formal criminal denunciation with Mexico's attorney general, accusing the chief executive of committing high treason against the nation with his recent energy reforms opening oil company PEMEX, once a state monopoly, to private capital investment and foreign participation.
The action followed a Jan. 6 threat by López Obrador to file an unspecified "international complaint" against Peña Nieto. López Obrador accuses Peña Nieto of "treason."
López Obrador, 60, founder and leader of the radical National Regeneration Movement (Movimiento de Regeneración Nacional, commonly known by its acronym MORENA), was twice defeated in runs for Mexico's presidency, in 2006 and 2012. Most expect him to be a candidate again in 2018 (Mexican politicians already looking ahead to next contest). One month ago López Obrador demanded that "all of the so-called institutional reforms" of the Peña Nieto administration be "abolished immediately."
The energy reforms were passed overwhelmingly by both houses of Mexico's federal congress and approved by a majority of the 32 states in record time in December. They have been widely praised by business and economic experts at home and abroad, and by most mainstream politicians. Mexico's moderate and far Left remain firmly opposed, however, calling the PEMEX reforms a blatant sellout of the nation's primary source of natural wealth to foreign oil producers. "The fix is in" on energy reform, says AMLO: new laws "designed for foreign business".
MORENA officials alleged in their complaint that Peña Nieto was required to put the PEMEX reforms to a national referendum, which the government said was not obligatory.
Treason in Mexico is punishable by imprisonment of up to 40 years, and by a fine of 50,000 pesos. In delivering the complaint to the nation's chief prosecutorial office in Mexico City, López Obrador said he was under no illusions. "The Procuraduría is in the service of the power mafia," he told the press.
The Yucatán peninsula's Por Esto, always a devout cheerleader for AMLO, carried this bold headline:
July 15, 2012 - El País: It's time for Manuel to go
López Obrador, 2013
Sept. 19 - Mexico's Left determined to shackle the nation to the past
Sept. 21 - Andrés Manuel's vision for Mexico
Oct. 7 - López Obrador calls for campaign of protest and civil disobedience over PEMEX reforms
Dec. 12 - Exit Stage Left: PRD says "The Pact for Mexico is dead"
Energy reforms and PEMEX
Feb. 5 - PRI reforms earn Mexico yet another credit rating boost
Jan. 26 - Russians are the first to benefit from PEMEX reforms
Dec. 23 - Mexican energy reforms will lure in $10 billion dollars in immediate investment
Dec. 21 - Mexico's sovereign credit rating upgraded on PEMEX reform news
Dec. 20 - PEMEX reforms are now officially the law
Dec. 19 - U.S. Senate approves transborder oil exploration bill
Dec. 18 - Not much democracy in "Democratic" Revolution Party
Dec. 16 - San Luis Potosí puts PEMEX reforms over the top
Dec. 15 - Jalisco and all of Yucatán peninsula approve PEMEX reforms
Dec. 13 - Mexican states rush to endorse PEMEX reforms
Dec. 11 - Mexico's Chamber of Deputies wastes no time, approves PEMEX reforms
Dec. 11 - Mexico's PEMEX: senators open the door to foreign expertise and private capital
Dec. 10 - Mexican leftists go to court to stop PEMEX reforms
Nov. 30 - As energy reform vote approaches, PRD exits Pact for Mexico
Sept. 23 - Energy reform debate opens in Mexican Senate; warnings of foreign takeover of PEMEX
Sept. 20 - Without energy reform, Mexico will need more than half a century to reach U.S. output
Guadalajara, September 2013: "Heroes and Traitors"
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