Before thousands of supporters who packed the capital’s Zócalo square, the president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, said this Saturday that “only with the people and the support of the majority can a transformation for justice and well-being be carried out.” ”.
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The Head of State led a popular act to commemorate the 85th anniversary of the oil expropriation by President Lázaro Cárdenas.
He recalled that “with the expropriation of the oil companies, the assets began to be returned to the people.” He highlighted Cárdenas’ gesture of adequately interpreting the feelings of the popular masses and knowing how to manage the times.
He added that “President Lázaro Cárdenas did not hesitate to lean on those below. With a social base, he was able to carry out the expropriation of oil ”.
Sovereignty is not an anachronistic or jingoistic concept; it is respect for the independence and dignity of peoples. Thank you! pic.twitter.com/MxpD2xUM9h
– Andrés Manuel (@lopezobrador_)
March 19, 2023
He underscored the need to be true to principle and move forward with the changes of the Fourth Transformation. “We will not accept that a minority prevails in Mexico at the expense of the majorities,” he reaffirmed.
AMLO also presented achievements of his administration and among them he highlighted a recent measure, the 90 percent increase in the minimum wage, with the purpose of reactivating the domestic market. He pointed out that this has been achieved “without generating higher inflation, as conservatives argue.”
The massive act, in which sympathizers and militants of the official National Regeneration Movement (Morena) party from all states participated, became a space to defend the country’s sovereignty and reject the interference of US politicians.
In this regard, López Obrador made it clear that Mexico “is an independent and free country, not a colony, not a protectorate of the United States. And that they can threaten us with committing any outrage, but we will never, ever allow them to violate our sovereignty and trample on the dignity of our homeland.”
The Secretary of Energy, Rocío Nahle, and the director of Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex), Octavio Romero, also took part in the act, who expressed that the current Government has worked to rescue the energy sector and move towards self-sufficiency.
On March 18, 1938, General Lázaro Cárdenas, then Mexican President, announced the decree that nationalized the country’s oil industry and paved the way for the legal expropriation of machinery, installations, buildings, refineries, distribution stations, vessels, pipelines and all movable and immovable property.
According to the National Institute for Federalism and Municipal Development (Inafed), “the main reason for the expropriation was the constant refusal of the oil companies to improve the salary and working conditions of the employees of this industry.”