MEXICO CITY * 26 de junio de 2019.
] Reuters
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador pushed backed on Thursday against Canadian concerns that gas pipeline contracts awarded under his predecessor might not be honored, saying the terms of the agreements were “abusive” toward the state.
Mexican state power utility CFE said this week it would negotiate a more fair resolution to contractual disputes over several pipelines being built by companies including Mexico’s IEnova (IENOVA.MX) and Canada’s TC Energy (TRP.TO).
The Canadian ambassador to Mexico, Pierre Alarie, wrote on Twitter on Wednesday that the Mexican government appears “not to wish to respect natural gas pipeline contracts,” and said he was deeply concerned about the signal being sent.
Lopez Obrador, who in February vowed the contracts would be honored, said it was natural for Alarie to defend Canada’s interests but took a defiant tone when asked about the dispute during his regular morning press conference.
“Here it was stated that those contracts were abusive. I called them unfair contracts because they were handed over with all the benefits for the companies,” he said, arguing that their terms would lead to the ruin of the CFE.
“A deal will be reached because we too have to defend the assets and the interests of the Mexican people,” he said.
