Roberto Garduno and Fabiola Martinez
Newspaper La Jornada
Wednesday, February 9, 2022, p. 5
In terms of energy, Mexico is an independent and sovereign country, The United States has been respectful, and it no longer considers us its backyard, there is an equal footing
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador assured. When appearing before the media in the Treasury Hall of the National Palace, he announced that this Wednesday he will expose to John Kerry, special envoy for climate change of that country, the coordinated work in the field of clean energies today debated: We care a lot about using water, using the sun, the wind; there are facilities for investment, not privatization and the only thing we want is to strengthen the CFE
assured.
From there, US investment would be sought or receive loans at low rates
to pay them with the energy produced. And he denied that Kerry’s presence is due to disagreements or pressure from Washington, regarding the electricity initiative.
The day before their meeting today, it led him to argue that both his counterpart Joe Biden, the Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken; the vice president, Kamala Harris; the same envoy for climate change and ambassador Ken Salazar have been respectful.
De Salazar, provided a flattering comment, it is very respectful, he has behaved, the truth, very well, he is of Mexican origin. And well, what he expressed is true, you cannot have the same laws all the time, you have to reform, you have to update them, you have to put them in correspondence with the new reality, this is elementary, that was what he stated.
Thus, he spotted a very good meeting with Mr. Kerry.
And to put the debate in context, he turned to the ecoloco – program character Odyssey Bubbles–, “That is the image, that is, pure contamination (in) Mexico, pure contamination; Because of their dirty business –the neoliberals– they are in favor of the so-called clean energies.
With all due respect to other countries, because they are circumstances that arise, that have to do with the history of each country, but how we are placed in terms of pollution, in carbon dioxide emissions. And Mr. Kerry knows it and of course we have to find a way to take care of the environment.
López Obrador replied that his opponents accuse the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) of producing dirty energy: “No! –I point out– it produces clean energy and has a diversity of sources that is not available in other countries, it has many possibilities: from fuel oil, gas, through water, wind, sun and nuclear.”
Thus, I reiterate that there will be talks with Kerry and We are going to look for ways to work in a coordinated manner. We care a lot about using water, using the sun, the wind. And there are facilities for investment, the only thing is that we want to strengthen the CFE at the same time because it is the one that dispatches energy to domestic consumers, it guarantees that prices do not increase excessively. If we don’t have the CFE then not everyone could pay for electricity. So, if we leave the market to individuals, there will be a problem.
When exposing his plan for reconversion of the dams in the country, he described what will be one of his proposals to the US government: “We have the Pilares dam, the Picacho in Sinaloa does not have turbines either. But there are so many. Of course, it requires investment, it is a matter of reaching agreements with the United States government for investments, not privatizing, but receiving credits at low rates, as interest is charged in the United States, and this would be an investment in favor of the environment. .
