Scores of leftist opposition lawmakers waving Mexican flags stormed the stage inside Congress on Tuesday to try and prevent a debate on a disputed energy reform bill. "We're going to stay here to defend oil," said lawmaker Alejandro Sanchez Camacho on Formato 21 radio. But the debate began, with the agreement of all major parties.
The Mexican Senate last Thursday approved a watered-down version of the bill which opens the state-run oil company Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, to private capital in a bid to boost falling production. It was expected to pass through Congress on Tuesday. The protesting lawmakers called for more discussions, following demands made earlier by former leftist presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the loudest critic of the plan.
Lopez Obrador, a former Mexico City mayor, called for the law to prevent future foreign participation in oil exploration and exploitation in Mexico. The reform of Pemex, considered a symbol of sovereignty since its nationalisation in 1938, has sparked months of angry debates and protests, including on Thursday when demonstrators forced the Senate to relocate to an alternative building.
President Felipe Calderon proposed the bill, which the left-wing opposition sees as an attempt to privatise the industry. But lacking a majority in Congress, Calderon finally dropped plans to bring private capital into oil refining and accepted more restrictions on the contracts state-run Pemex can offer to private firms.