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Mexican lawmakers end protest



By Upstream staff 

Left-wing Mexican lawmakers ended a two-week congressional sit-in today as a series of debates on the proposed energy reform bill was scheduled.

Dozens of left-wing deputies and senators had disrupted both houses with round-the-clock protests since 10 April to block conservative President Felipe Calderon's plan to shake up the oil sector and increase private-sector involvement.

The Party of the Democratic Revolution and some smaller allies see the reform as a sneaking privatisation of Mexico's oil industry.

The blockade forced lawmakers from the ruling National Action Party and the centrist opposition to meet outside the main chambers for the first time in nearly 20 years, reported Reuters.

"Today we are concluding a successful stage in the movement. We prevented a fast-track approval of the proposals," said Carlos Navarrete, the left's coordinator in the Senate, as lawmakers sang the national anthem to mark the end of the protests.

Calderon wants to sweeten oil field service contracts with bonus fees to attract experienced foreign partners that could help state-monopoly Pemex uncover new deep-water oil deposits and shore up declining output and reserves.

Calderon had hoped to get the proposal approved before Congress wraps up its spring session next Wednesday.

Instead, lawmakers will hold an open debate on the oil industry, bringing in independent experts, from 13 May to late July.


Friday, 25 April, 2008, 20:40 GMT  | last updated: Friday, 25 April, 2008, 20:42 GMT

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