Jail for opponents of AMLO’s energy reform – WSJ

In his effort to dictate economic policy, Andrés Manuel López Obrador is trying to criminalize investors and opponents of his energy agenda, warned Mary Anastasia O’Grady, a columnist for the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).

López Obrador behaves like Russian President Vladimir Putin. “U.S. President Joe Biden should take action,” said the columnist who gives an overview of Latin America in the influential newspaper.

The remarks come after the Opposition in Congress rejected on April 17 AMLO’s constitutional reform to give preference to the CFE over private companies, known as the “Bartlett Law” -in a clear reference to Manuel Bartlett- head of the agency.

“López Obrador,” O’Grady wrote, “doesn’t care about growth and is trying to tear down independent institutions because they get in the way of his ability to dictate economic policy. Those who disagree with him are labeled greedy and corrupt,” she asserted.

“Exhibit A,” she noted, “is the President’s recent threat to jail his political opponents and prosecute investors who disagree with his energy plan. This Putin-style thuggery is unlikely to end in convictions,” she added, “but criminal complaints filed with the Attorney General can result in years of investigation, harassment, and even pre-trial detention.”

Likewise, O’Grady highlighted AMLO’s threat of criminal complaints against companies that, according to him, are illegally engaging in self-supply of electricity. She also added that Bartlett directly threatened to file criminal complaints against Spanish companies in the electricity industry.

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