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Sheinbaum announces article reforms to make rails, Pemex, CFE public companies

Mexico City, Mexico — President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo says constitutional reforms in energy matters will strengthen Pemex and CFE. Sheinbaum says reforms to the recovery of the railways will also strengthen the rights of the people of Mexico.

She says the constitutional reforms to Articles 25, 27 and 28 guarantee the continuity of the recovery of passenger trains and the strengthening of Pemex and CFE. Sheinbaum says passenger trains will be a priority area for the Government of Mexico and that more than 3,000 kilometers of railway will be put into service.

”These two reforms are profound and very important (…) It is important that this be known, which is part of what was promised, what we committed to in the campaign, a very important essence of what the Fourth Transformation represents, unlike the entire neoliberal period, which wanted to privatize absolutely everything and turn everything into merchandise and abandon the rights of the people of Mexico,” she said.

Sheinbaum also said the House of Representatives will be discussing the energy reform, which implies changes in three articles of the Constitution: 25, 27 and 28, which will now pave the way for the recovery of CFE and PEMEX as public companies of the State.

“What does the reform that will be discussed today propose? It is that companies return to being public companies, that is, the market is not their main function, but public service, that strengthens them.”

She stressed that the main objective of these reforms is to make Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) and Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE) companies even more productive and efficient.

This, thanks to the fact that their preponderance is established, particularly in the case of the distribution of electric energy by CFE, which will continue with 54 percent of the electric generation, while private companies will still be able to distribute 46 percent of the electricity used at the national level, through planning and clear schemes in which the needs of the people of Mexico are prioritized, as well as sustainability.

”With this reform, it will also be possible to modify secondary laws. And even if the electricity market is respected, CFE now has the upper hand, it is once again a public company and Pemex is also once again a public company.”

He explained that the modifications, which are already approved by the Congress of the Union, to Article 28 of the Political Constitution, allow to continue with the recovery of passenger trains, making use of the rights of way that already exist in different parts of the national territory.

”Then-president Andrés Manuel López Obrador, what he showed or what was found is that in the contracts that were made for the concession of railroads with private companies, there was a clause that specified that, in the case of passengers. if the private company did not develop them, the State could develop them.

“They could be public companies. This is now in the Constitution, that the State can use the current tracks that are concessioned for passenger transport. That is, it is the same thing that was already in the contracts, only now it is clear in the Constitution.'”

The Secretary of Energy, Luz Elena González, explained that the energy reforms also include the regulation of the use of lithium, which will be reserved for the use of the State, which will be established in Article 27.

Meanwhile, Article 28 will specify that lithium and the Internet provided through the State cannot be part of any type of monopoly since their functions are strategic areas of the Government of Mexico.

The Director of the Railway Transport Regulatory Agency (ARTF), Andrés Lajous Loaeza, reported that more than 3,000 kilometers of railroad tracks will be put into service for passenger trains, which will be possible, to a large extent, due to the reform to Article 28 which establishes that this type of transportation will be a priority of the Government of Mexico.

He highlighted that, with the approved modification, the passenger train service run by the State will provide more security and reduce the carbon footprint. The focus will be on reducing accidents and paving the way for a better quality of life for those who use this type of mobility thanks to the fact that it has among its objectives to reach remote communities that have long been forgotten.