Mexican senate passes mining law amendment to nationalize lithium
Mexico City, Apr 19 (EFE).- Mexico’s Senate on Tuesday approved an amendment to the country’s mining law that nationalizes lithium, a day after it was passed by the Congress.
“With 87 votes in favor, 20 against and 16 abstentions, (the bill) and the non-reserved articles of the opinion that reforms various provisions of the Mining Law regarding the exploration and exploitation of lithium is approved in general,” the president of the Senate, Olga Sánchez Cordero, said.
The approved reform, proposed by Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, amends articles 1, 5, 9 and 10 of the mining law.
In a repeat of what happened during its approval in the Congress, the senators belonging to López Obrador’s National Regeneration Movement (Morena) party voted en bloc and together with the votes of those from the Citizens’ Movement (MC), Social Encounter, the Ecologist Green and the Labor parties reached 87 votes in favor.
Meanwhile, the 20 votes against the amendment and 16 abstentions were, respectively, from the senators of the National Action Party (PAN) and the so-called Plural Group, and from the Institutional Revolutionary (PRI) and the Democratic Revolution parties (PRD).
“The approval of the amendments to the Mining Law is not aimed at the nationalization of lithium since it is already enshrined in article 27 of the Mexican constitution; however, if it is a question of specifying the full and exclusive State ownership over this important mineral,” Labor Party senator Geovanna Bañuelos said.
The Senate rejected the proposals presented by senators from Morena, PAN, PRI, PRD and MC, so the reserved articles were approved in the terms of the opinion with 76 in favor and 45 against. EFE
jmrg/pd/sc
