Yes, it was the PRD: Paolo Salerno, energy advisor, accessed San Lazaro at the request of the Aztec sun

On April 12, inside the plenary session of the Chamber of Deputies, a person who did not belong to the body of legislators had access to the seat area of San Lazaro while the ruling of the AMLO Electric Reform was being discussed, as this man was placed next to a PRD deputy, he was called a lobbyist.

This is because Paolo Salerno, a lawyer specializing in comparative energy law, was sitting next to Edna Gisel Diaz Acevedo, president of the Climate Change and Sustainability Commission in the Lower House.

According to the Dictionary of Parliamentary Terms, consulted in the Legislative Information System (SIL), lobbying is understood as the “planned process of communication of predominantly informative content, within the framework of public relations, of the company, lobby group or organization with the public authorities, exercised directly by the latter or through a third party through consideration, whose function is to intervene on a public decision”.

And it was in this context that public opinion pointed to Salerno as, in addition to being a lobbyist, a lawyer related to the Italian company Enel (Ente nazionale per l'energia elettrica); however, both he and the energy firm denied having a contractual relationship.

“With regard to recent events and statements that have resumed in the media and social networks, Enel Green Power Mexico reports that it has no relationship with Dr. Paolo Salerno, nor as an employee, partner or provider of lobbying services,” the company said.

“I was giving technical advice on some points of the two reforms, which I like to analyze everything,” said the legal expert during an interview with El Heraldo, in addition to this, he published a letter from his law firm Salerno y Asociados specifying his status as an advisor and not a lobbyist.

Regarding how he got there, at first, Diaz Acevedo dissociated himself from any relationship with the lawyer inside San Lázaro and denied having the power to define whether Paolo Salerno could be in plenary; however, his party does have a bearing on this.

Since a document signed by Gerardo Cabrera Velázquez, coordinator of the PRD Parliamentary Group, requests that access be given to Paolo Salerno and José Orozco Contreras as well as inside the Chamber of Deputies to provide advice to deputies Mauricio Prieto and Edna Díaz.

One important fact that emanates from this evidence is that Paolo Salerno denied being an official advisor to the Va por México coalition, despite the fact that he himself acknowledged providing that service and that the official document of the Chamber of Deputies defines his service as an adviser. This is because faced with the direct question “Are you hired as an advisor by Va por Mexico or how does it work?” , the consultant denied any contractual relationship with the coalition opposed to the 4Q government.

It is also important to note that in the midst of this controversy, the Employer's Confederation of the Mexican Republic (Coparmex) called on Mexico's deputies to vote against the AMLO Electricity Reform, this because it threatens the value chain of the energy sector and the National Electricity Market. In this regard, the organization stated that the initiative “should not be approved as it was presented because it would allow only CFE to buy and sell energy at the price it decides.”

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