Mexico lawmakers end protests against proposed energy bill
- Mexico
- 04/28/2008
Opposition members of the Mexican Congress have ended their protest against a proposed energy reform bill backed by Mexican President Felipe Calderon, after the ruling party agreed to allow further debate on the bill. Members of Mexico’s Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) and several smaller parties had staged a 15-day sit-in over their objections to certain provisions of the proposed oil bill, including one that would allow state oil company Petroleos Mexicanos to work with private companies, a move they say is tantamount to privatization. PRD leader Carlos Navarrete told reporters Friday that the ruling party had agreed to schedule a national debate on the bill.
The protests began earlier this month, when demonstrators in Mexico’s lower house of Congress, the Chamber of Deputies, put up barricades around their encampment by the speaker’s podium. Their colleagues in the Mexican Senate also reportedly began a fast.
