Rosario Brindis, then head of the Legislative Liaison of Petróleos Mexicanos, and Froylán Gracia, former coordinator of the general management, were Emilio Lozoya’s principal operators.
MEXICO CITY (Proceso) – In the Pemex Tower, on the 45th floor, the plan to approve the Energy Reform in the six-year term of Enrique Peña Nieto was drafted, which according to the media; the former director of Petroleos Mexicano (Pemex), Emilio Lozoya Austin, has said it was approved with bribes to legislators.
“There, on one of the walls of those offices, a three-meter by four-meter blanket was displayed for a time with the images of the 500 federal deputies and 128 senators who discussed the Energy Reform until approved,” assures the weekly publication, Proceso.
A Pemex employee who worked in that “bunker,” Rosario Brindis Alvarez, at that time the head of the company’s Legislative Liaison, carried out the direct orders of Froylán Gracia Galicia, coordinator of the general management of Pemex during the Lozoya Austin administration. This was revealed by Jesusa Cervantes states that she was the author of the report that shows how the company operated in that “war room.”
Last Friday, July 24th, 2020, it was revealed that Emilio Lozoya Austin, former director of Petroleos Mexicanos, allegedly paid bribes of 52 million 380 thousand pesos to PAN legislators, so that they would approve the reforms of the Pact for Mexico.
According to PROCESO, Mexican Air Force planes were used to carry the suitcases of money where the millionaire bribes were.
Andrés Manuel López Obrador said in his press conference that Emilio Lozoya had already given initial testimony that bribes were paid to legislators to approve President Enrique Peña Nieto’s historic energy reform but as usual, without presenting a single piece of evidence except for his word.
The senior prosecutor’s office refused to comment. The Mexican opposition party PAN said it is committed to fighting corruption and that Lozoya’s testimony is a “smokescreen” to hide government mismanagement. Peña Nieto’s PRI party said in a statement that it would not protect any member who has been involved in corruption.
Lozoya’s testimony could lead to Pemex becoming a target of an investigation. High-level corruption has long plagued the embattled oil company, which is currently dealing with other problems, such as paying off a debt of more than $100 billion amid a drop in oil prices. Any disclosure of irregularities coming out of Lozoya risks involving the company on a broader investigation.
