Lilly Tellez threatened to reverse Mining Law reform: “We will correct this aberration”

On the night of Tuesday, April 19, the reform to the Mining Law (LM) was approved by the majority of the senate following the rejection of the proposed Electricity Reform by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO).

The vote, unlike that of the Reformation in the Chamber of Deputies on April 17, in which the members of the benches opposing the government of AMLO and the Movimiento Regeneración Nacional party (Morena) proved in favor of the ruling bloc.

This reform establishes that the Mexican state will carry out the exploration, exploitation and exploitation of this mineral and its economic value chains exclusively.

Likewise, the creation of an autonomous public body is proposed to ensure that the State can take advantage of all the advantages that this metal may attract, which was proposed to be named Mexican Lithium Association (AMLITIO).

Given this, Senator Lilly Tellez expressed her displeasure with the approval and despite the abstention of other legislators, she noted that she had voted against passing the reform.

Through her social networks, the Senator for the National Action Party (PAN) pointed out that lithium insurance was meant to generate profits for the AMLO government, but also indicated that the reform to the LM will be reversed in the next six years.

As for this reform, it was announced by the chief executive on April 12 at one of his morning conferences as a kind of “Plan B” in case the Electric Reform was not approved. He later published on his social networks that “we are already armored against treason”.

On several occasions he has repeated the issue, noting the strategic importance of this mineral for the country's economy and future generations in Mexico, adding that “it should not be given to individuals, much less to foreigners”.

It is also believed that it is because of the economic potential and importance that the Mexican country would acquire within the T-MEC on the side of the automobile industry, since it represents a pillar within the international treaty, mainly by the manufacture of batteries.

The Reform was first approved by the deputies last Monday, April 18, with 278 votes in favor, 197 abstentions and 0 votes against, as the leaders of the PAN, PRI and PRD announced that they would do this in disapproval as quickly as it was accepted.

And on April 19, the reform between recriminations and disqualifications against the parties that voted against the Electricity Reform was generally approved with 87 votes in favor, 20 against and 16 abstentions. The amendments will enter into force when published in the Official Journal of the Federation (DOF).

On the other hand, a video recently resurfaced from an AMLO morning conference in 2020 in which he was asked about the nationalization of lithium. The president's response was the same one that the senators have used to go against her: that article 27 of the constitution already indicated her protection by the government, so “it was not necessary”.

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