López Obrador: “There is no violation of the TMEC”

The President of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, during his morning conference on July 22, 2022, in Puerto Vallarta, State of Jalisco. Presidency of Mexico (Presidency of Mexico)

The controversy continues in Mexico on account of the TMEC, the North American trade agreement.

The United States and Canada have initiated a procedure to defend the interests of their energy companies in the country.

In his opinion, the Government of Mexico, led by Andrés Manuel López Obrador, breaches the treaty, favoring state companies, in the case of Pemex or the CFE.

This Friday, the president referred to the matter again at a press conference: “There is no violation of the treaty.

May the people of Mexico have peace of mind, we are not breaching any commitment.”

Visiting Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, López Obrador took advantage of the reporters' first question to spin a long monologue about the TMEC, Mexico's sovereignty over national oil, the "traitors to the homeland" who criticize its energy policy and the scenarios that, in his opinion, the country is facing.

The president has announced that Mexico will officially establish its position on the claims of neighboring countries on the day of the national holiday, September 16.

“We plan to summon the people on the night of the cry, on September 15, in the zócalo.

The next day, we will hold the commemorative military parade.

And there we will set our position on this matter.

But we are not going to give in, because it is a matter of principles, it has to do with our sovereignty”, the president has indicated.

“All this is difficult for organic intellectuals.

Do you know that in order to impose neoliberalism they began to manage that we were already at the end of history, that why remember or give room to historical memory? ”, He added.

The president has focused on the part of the treaty that speaks of hydrocarbons.

He has even requested that a part of the text of the document be projected on the huge screen that presides over the podium.

With the text on the screen, López Obrador has elaborated a story of what happened, in his opinion, at the end of the previous government, during the negotiation of the TMEC, which came to replace the previous treaty, NAFTA.

“We have taken care since the beginning of the Government not to compromise oil.

That led us to stop the negotiation, almost two weeks, because the previous government [headed by Enrique Peña Nieto] had offered a special chapter of the treaty delivering the oil.

So clear.

We were as observers, because he was still president-elect.

We said that we did not agree.

US government negotiators were upset and the table was adjourned.

There were proposals about the same as always: that if we didn't accept it was going to be very bad for us, that there was going to be devaluation.

And we said 'no, we want the chapter to change, it's more that the subject is not touched on'.

The president has continued his story: “Time passed.

They did not want to inform President Trump, because they considered that the situation would worsen.

In the end they had to tell him, and President Trump's response was to accept what we proposed.

That is why the chapter is limited to two paragraphs.

With the text on the screen, López Obrador has read: “…The parties confirm their full respect for sovereignty… In the case of Mexico, and without prejudice to its rights…”

The Mexican president has continued with his speech, mixing the defense of his position with attacks on "pseudo-intellectuals" and other "traitors to the country."

“They are asking for things to go well for foreigners and badly for us,” he has said.

“We are not going to continue with the submissive policy.

There is no treaty violation.

In addition, they are procedures that are established.

It is a consultation to establish communication, clarify things, which is going to take 75 days and then, if there is no agreement, it goes to an international panel”.

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