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world news Diamars 19 aPriL 2022

Mexican leader fails to pass limits on foreign energy firms

(AP) — Mexican Presi- dor called the opposition Alejandro Moreno, the leader
dent Andrés Manuel members of congress who of the old ruling Institutional
López Obrador failed to voted against the reform trai- Revolutionary Party, shot
find enough votes late tors, claiming foreign firms back “they are the traitors,
Sunday to pass a consti- “bought the legislators.” and they haven’t solved the
tutional reform limiting crime problem and have left
private and foreign firms The lower house of Congress women abandoned,” refer-
in the electrical power in- voted 275 to 223 in favor of ring to increasing homicides
dustry, marking the first the measure, which would against women in Mexico.
major legislative setback have given more power to the
for the president. state-owned power company, Political analyst José Antonio
but that was well short of the Crespo said López Obrador
The defeat may set the tone 333 votes needed for consti- was a victim of his own re-
for an angrier, more hard- tutional changes. fusal to negotiate any of his
line and polarizing president proposals, preferring instead
in the last 2 1/2 years of his Ana Vanessa Cárdenas Zanat- to divide the country into
administration. ta, a political science profes- camps of “traitors” and patri-
sor at the Monterrey Techno- ots.
No longer able to ride on a logical and Anahuac universi- of lithium, which was part newable energy plants and
legislative super-majority as ties, said the vote marked the “For him, sitting down to ne- of the reform bill that failed guarantee at least 54% of
he did in the first half of his first legislative setback López gotiate with the opposition is Sunday. electricity would be bought
term, López Obrador may Obrador has suffered since betraying the cause, because from government-owned
now resort to harsher attacks taking office in late 2018. he is used to doing things the The bill submitted for debate generating plants, which are
on opponents and regulatory way he says they should be Monday would create a state- dirtier. Private and foreign
bodies like the courts and “Today he couldn’t hide the done, or not at all,” Crespo owned company for lithium companies, which have built
electoral authorities. fact that he was very angry,” said. “I think this is going to mining, something López wind and gas-fired generat-
said Cárdenas Zanatta, not- hurt him in the second half Obrador said would “nation- ing plants, would have been
The reforms that failed to ing he had continued push- of his term, because he no alize lithium.” allowed to keep up to 46% of
pass Sunday would have un- ing the project despite warn- longer has the majority to do the market.
done much of the market ings from the U.S. govern- his bidding.” Only one lithium mine in
opening in power generation ment. Mexico, operated by a Chi- Critics said the reform would
carried out by his predecessor “I think the final half of this nese firm, is anywhere near hurt investors and their con-
in 2013, but also raised con- “Yesterday a group of legis- administration is going to close to starting production. fidence in Mexico. The com-
cerns among U.S. officials lators committed an act of be very tough, very tense, That would presumably be panies could have sought
and companies, who worried treason,” López Obrador said forced, very risky,” Crespo taken over by the govern- court injunctions, and the
they would violate trade pacts Monday. “Instead of defend- said. ment if the bill passes on a U.S. government could have
and guarantees for foreign ing the interests of the nation, simple majority. complained under a free
investors. of the people, they openly López Obrador has vowed to trade agreement and then
defended foreign firms that submit separately a bill that The electricity reform sought put compensatory tariffs on
On Monday, López Obra- rob and prey.” would nationalize the mining to limit foreign-built re- Mexican products.

France: EU fraud agency investigating candidate Le Pen

(AP) — Paris prosecutors are Europe’s future direction. Le Pen’s presidential election, which Le Pen of National Rally — formerly called
studying a report by the Europe- party National Rally seeks to dimin- lost to Macron. Le Pen was handed the National Front — “imperiled the
an Union’s fraud agency accusing ish the EU’s powers. preliminary charges by French inves- reputation of the Union’s institu-
French far-right presidential can- tigators over that case, which is still tions,” according to Mediapart.
didate Marine Le Pen and other Le Pen denied wrongdoing, dismiss- ongoing.
members of her nationalist party ing the report as “foul play by the Eu- OLAF didn’t immediately respond
of misusing public funds while ropean Union a few days before the Macron, a pro-EU centrist, leads Le to requests for comment Monday, a
serving in the European Parlia- second round” of the election. Speak- Pen in polls ahead of Sunday’s vote, holiday in Belgium and several Euro-
ment. ing Monday on a campaign stop in though the race is tighter than when pean countries.
Normandy, she said, “I am well ac- they faced off in 2017.
The report was disclosed by French customed to this, and I think the It’s not the first time Le Pen has
investigative news site Mediapart just French will absolutely not fall for it.” EU fraud agency OLAF submitted its been accused of misusing EU funds.
days before Le Pen faces incumbent latest report last month to the Paris Among several legal affairs that have
Emmanuel Macron in a runoff elec- A similar EU fraud investigation was prosecutor’s office, which is “in the dogged her party, Le Pen was handed
tion Sunday that could determine disclosed ahead of the 2017 French course of analyzing it,” the prosecu- preliminary charges in 2018 based on
tor’s office said Monday. No formal a separate investigation by OLAF ac-
investigation has yet been opened, cusing members of her party of using
and no further details were released. aides on the European Parliament’s
According to Mediapart, the OLAF payroll for the party’s political ac-
report found that Le Pen, her fire- tivity. Other French political parties
brand father and party founder Jean- faced similar accusations.
Marie Le Pen and other party mem-
bers who served in the European Le Pen, who served in the European
Parliament used 617,000 euros of Parliament from 2004-2017, smiled
public money for “fictitious” reasons, for selfies as she met with hundreds
notably for the benefit of companies of voters Monday in the Normandy
close to the party. The fraud office is town of Saint-Pierre-en-Auge. A
reportedly seeking reimbursement small group of Macron supporters
of the funds and potential fraud and came with posters to urge voters to
embezzlement charges. prevent the far-right from running
France.
OLAF accused party members of
“grave violations” and said the “in- She and Macron face a crucial debate
appropriate behavior” of members on Wednesday.