“Conservatism, interests and extortion to avoid approving the Electricity Reform”: Andrea Chávez (Morena)

This Sunday, the controversial Electric Reform of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is being debated at the San Lázaro Legislative Palace and, after a sudden half-hour recess, the deputy of the Morena National Regeneration Movement party for the state of Chihuahua, Andrea Chávez, made a request that the legislator of the National Action Party (PAN), Margarita Zavala, refrain from voting on the bill.

According to the deputy Chihuahuense, Margarita Zavala is involved in a conflict of interest with the Spanish company Iberdrola, however, the representative of the Lower House, Sergio Luna, replied that the matter had already been dealt with and that there were no elements to conclude that the panista had engaged in a conflict of interest.

However, in an interview with Infobae Mexico, the Morenist deputy Andrea Chávez revealed that Margarita Zavala, in full knowledge of her position, went ahead to submit a letter of these to ask the president of the board of directors to decide whether or not she had conflicts of interest. According to the representative of Chihuahua in the Chamber of Deputies, the document presented by Felipe Calderón's ex-wife contained only statements and no evidence, so the Legal Department could not verify her conflict of interest.

In this regard, Andrea Chávez explained that they are giving the board a series of evidence regarding Margarita Zavala's patrimonial declaration, as well as her marriage, since the PAN deputy married Felipe Calderón under the joint property regime, which was in force while the former president received more than 8 million pesos in salary when he worked on the board of directors of Iberdrola.

The Morenist deputy Andrea Chávez recalled that since October 2021, when the President of Mexico submitted his initiative to the Chamber of Deputies for consideration, the Morena National Regeneration Movement party (Morena) held more than 400 informative assemblies, as well as the incursion of the Open Parliament which had the participation of experts for and against it. Likewise, he explained that they debated the opinion with the opposition, which sent them 12 points that they wanted to be included.

“They sent us 12 points that they wanted to be included in the report and they told us that if we did not include them they would not accompany us to the vote,” said MP Andrea Chávez in an interview with Infobae Mexico.

According to the representative of the state of Chihuahua in the Chamber of Deputies, of the 12 points that the opposition asked to consider, only 10 were included, since the other two were mandated by the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) as unconstitutional in the most recent ruling on electricity matters in the the Unit's analysis of the Electricity Industry Act.

Despite the negotiations that took place, Andrea Chávez shared that at this time the bench of the National Regeneration Movement (Morena) is facing a resounding and systematic “no” on the part of members of opposition parties. In addition, he explained that the opposition has not been able to present a single technical argument against constitutional reform.

In addition to noting that some political parties respond to private interests, the Morenista deputy pointed out that this is not only the reason why they want to stop the Reformation Electric, since the presence of the Italian lobbyist revealed different points to consider, such as the conservative values that the opposition possesses, as well as some may have received bribes such as when the Energy Reform was adopted during the six-year term of former President Enrique Peña Nieto.

“Some will leave for millionaire bribes but others will also go for conservative values, values where conservatism and the right are always in favor of private companies, and hostility and profits. Then it will be so for economic interests but also for ideological interests,” said Morenoist MP Andrea Chávez in an interview with Infobae Mexico.

The representative of the State of Chihuahua in the Chamber of Deputies, Andrea Chávez, pointed out that there is an extra factor to consider about the opposition and that is the institutional positioning that political parties therefore have, despite the fact that some federal deputies from opposition groups have expressed that they will vote in favor of the Reform Eléctrica, many of the legislators have been extorted by being dismissed from their posts if they contradict the stance of their respective parties.

“There is an institutional position on the part of the political parties that have promoted the presidency of each party, extorting legislators to exclude them, to kick them out of the parties if they do not vote against the Electric Reform,” said Morenist deputy Andrea Chávez.

Despite the rigid context, Andrea Chávez shared that they hope that there are still federal deputies who are still due to reason, to arguments, to the interests of the nation, to security, to sovereignty, to fair tariffs, to the guarantee of energy transition and the right to electricity as a human right, albeit naturally they understand that many of the legislators, out of bribes or fear of their own parties, will vote against the Electricity Reform or simply will not be present at the vote.

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