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PRESIDENT IN MEXICO TO ACCELERATE ENERGY TRANSITION  
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Trade Unions for Energy Democracy
June 14, 2024
Socialist Project
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_ Claudia Sheinbaum’s resounding victory in Mexico’s presidential
election on June 2nd, 2024, has been welcomed by two of the
country’s main energy unions, UNTyPP and SME. _

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During her campaign Sheinbaum, a climate scientist
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with a Ph.D. in energy engineering from the National Autonomous
University of Mexico (UNAM), made 6 energy and climate-related
commitments (see here
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and below). “We are,” she said recently, “going to accelerate
the energy transition” within a framework of energy sovereignty.

Her predecessor, outgoing president Andrés Manuel López Obrador
(known as AMLO) took several measures aimed at regaining control over
Mexico’s energy system, including slamming the brakes on the push
for power sector privatisation made by previous neoliberal
governments. Despite criticism from business and environmental groups,
as well as the Biden Administration, AMLO insisted his MORENA
government was “not against clean energy. We are against dirty
business,” referring to lucrative power purchase agreements extended
to private renewable energy companies that undermined both the role
and the financial stability of the national power utility, CFE.
Earlier this year the government completed its $6.2-billion
acquisition of 13 power generation plants, mainly gas-fired combined
cycle plants, previously owned by Spain-based multinational Iberdrola.
The move increased CFE’s share
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over power generation from roughly 40% to over 56%.

TUED unions in Mexico’s energy sector had supported AMLO’s efforts
to reconstitute energy sovereignty by reversing the neoliberal reforms
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They actively supported Scheinbaum’s candidacy and have been part of
the international effort led by unions in the Global South to promote
the “public pathway
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approach to energy transition.

Ricardo Aldana, leader of the Mexican Oil Workers Union (STPRM),
Martín Esparza Flores, secretary general of the Mexican Electrical
Workers Union (SME) and Alfonso Cepeda Salas, secretary general of the
National Union of Education Workers (SNTE) publicly declared their
support
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for Sheinbaum leading up to her elections.

Mexico’s Oil Workers on Implications of MORENA’s Victory

Welcoming Sheinbaum’s June 2nd victory, Silvia Ramos Luna of the
Unión Nacional de Técnicos y Profesionistas Petroleros (UNTyPP),
which represents technical and professional workers within the
national oil company PEMEX, stated:

“This has been a historic day for the people of Mexico for multiple
reasons. Not only did we have a historic turnout, and secure a
landslide win for Sheinbaum, MORENA’s presidential candidate, with
nearly 60% of the vote, but perhaps most importantly in terms of
strategy: we won Congress. MORENA and its allies secured a two-thirds
majority in the lower house. We are crossing our fingers to also
secure a majority in the Senate.

“Why is the latter so important?

“During the last six years that AMLO has tried to reverse the energy
reform, he has tried to rescue national energy sovereignty. And it was
not possible. Because what the PRI did in 2013 was to modify the
Constitution, Articles 25, 27, 28. It was not possible to roll back
the energy reform because it did not have a qualified majority (⅔ of
the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies are needed for any modification
to the Constitution to proceed). Only the secondary laws can be moved,
which, even though attempts have been made, the corrupt judges
embedded in the Supreme Court and the entire judicial apparatus have
prevented us from achieving the reforms. This new correlation of
forces changes the fact that MORENA alone can now make constitutional
modifications (these results are preliminary; they need to be
confirmed).

“As leaders in the labour movement and Public Power advocates, we
have enormous expectations for the upcoming years in Mexico. With a
qualified majority, we will be able to reclaim and restore everything
we lost in 2013, everything that was taken from us. It will be very
difficult to rescue all the oil fields sold – but we also put up a
fight. They had planned to sell 509 and only managed to sell 107
because, fortunately, in December 2018, AMLO stopped the scheduled
auctions intended to sell additional oil fields.

“Following this week’s election results, we have a renewed hope to
recover not only the wells that were for sale, but also to stop the
sale of the oil pipelines, and to stop the sale of the plants that
were being sold (although the AMLO government successfully recovered
some of the hydrogen plants at the Tula refinery). The important thing
is that not a single screw – not ONE screw – be put up for sale to
the transnationals.

“We are also celebrating because the Sheinbaum and MORENA victory
will allow us a greater opportunity to push for a real energy
transition with sovereignty and justice. Sheinbaum is an expert on
environmental issues and she understands the importance of this
moment. We cannot overstate the joy that is knowing we can fight and
achieve the recovery of our patrimony, and resources, and
simultaneously achieve the recovery of the environment.

“The power sector is fundamental to the energy transition. And one
of the things that the right wing has staunchly prevented us from
achieving in the last six years was the rescue of our electricity
company, the Federal Electricity Commission. Thanks to the right wing,
power generation was left outside the Constitution and in the hands of
private companies.

“The neoliberals prioritised the sale of energy from their
thermoelectric plants over our thermoelectric, geothermal and nuclear
plants. Today, there is a real possibility of recovering the CFE, the
dispatch, and prioritising alternative energies, such as
hydroelectric, wind, geothermal and nuclear – all of which together
form our electricity diet – and prioritising them over the private
ones. In sum, the preliminary election results are magnificent news
for workers, for our energy sovereignty, and for supporters of the
true energy transition. Of course, we will have to fight, pressure,
and push forward our demands – and we will. Ni un paso atras.”

Electrical Workers Double Down Commitment to Public Power

Speaking for the power sector union Sindicato Mexicano de
Electricistas (SME), Martín Esparza Flores, secretary general of the
Mexican Electrical Workers Union and Secretary of Exterior Relations
Humberto Montes de Oca stated:

“The Mexican Electricians’ Union will be a xxxxxx in the defence
of the popular will expressed at the ballot box. At the same time, we
want to offer you our productive capacity and experience in the
national electricity sector to continue fighting for the energy
sovereignty of our country, the defence of its public companies, the
human right to energy and a just, sovereign and democratic energy
transition towards clean energy. You can count on the supportive,
combative and respectful commitment of our centenary trade union
organisation to deepen the changes that our country demands.”

Both of these leaders are at the forefront of an effort to build
support for the public pathway approach to energy transition. At a
recent meeting
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Colombia, UNTyPP and SME joined unions from across Latin America and
the Caribbean (LAC) to assess the opportunities to promote
alternatives to the neoliberal approach. The public pathway approach
will be further developed at a meeting of Global South unions in
Buenos Aires, Argentina, in mid-November, 2024. Convened by Central de
Trabajadores de la Argentina Autónoma (CTA-A), the TUED South
Interregional Meeting will bring together unions from the LAC, Africa
and the Asia-Pacific region.

Claudia Sheinbaum’s 6 Campaign Commitments:

1. INVESTMENT IN RENEWABLE ENERGY: Sheinbaum plans to invest
$13.57-billion in renewable energy projects, including solar, wind,
hydro, and geothermal energy, over her six-year term​. We are
working on the national energy plan not only through 2030, but to
2050,” Sheinbaum said in April, referring to the country’s climate
commitments under the Paris Agreement.

2. INCREASE IN RENEWABLE CAPACITY: Her administration aims to add
13.66 gigawatts of renewable energy to Mexico’s national grid by
2030. This includes modernizing five hydroelectric plants and
supporting the installation of solar panels for homes and small
businesses​.

3. EXPANSION OF TRANSMISSION INFRASTRUCTURE: The plan includes the
addition of around 3,850 kilometers of transmission lines to enhance
the capacity and reliability of the national grid​ (Mexico News
Daily
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(EnergiesNet
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4. SUPPORT FOR EXISTING FOSSIL FUEL PROJECTS: While prioritizing
renewable energy, Sheinbaum also commits to continuing with
state-owned gas-burning power plant projects that are already under
construction or planned​.

5. ENERGY SOVEREIGNTY AND STATE-OWNED COMPANIES: Sheinbaum emphasizes
the importance of energy sovereignty by strengthening state-owned
entities like Pemex and the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE). She
supports maintaining a significant role for these companies while
allowing for private sector participation under clear and fair
rules​ (Hart Energy
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6. ALIGNMENT WITH INTERNATIONAL CLIMATE GOALS: Her energy plan is
designed to align with Mexico’s international climate commitments
through 2050, focusing on sustainable development that balances
economic growth with environmental protection​ (Mexico News Daily
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(Solar Cell
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Trade Unions for Energy Democracy (TUED [[link removed]])
is a global, multi-sector initiative to advance democratic direction
and control of energy in a way that promotes solutions to the climate
crisis, energy poverty, the degradation of both land and people, and
responds to the attacks on workers’ rights and protections.

* Mexico
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* Claudia Sheinbaum
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* Energy
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