“It has to be revised”, said the President of Mexico referring to a contract signed between Pemex and a consortium between Grupo Idesa and Braskem, a subsidiary of Odebrecht, after alleging corruption schemes involving the companies in 2013
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador wants to cancel an energy deal with a consortium backed by Brazilian conglomerate Odebrecht, Reuters reported. Obrador called this Tuesday (18) for a “serious” investigation into the video that triggers corruption schemes based on alleged bribes to Mexican legislators in 2013, which would be linked to the companies Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) and Obredecht.
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“This contract should be canceled in my opinion because it is unfair”, said the president, adding that “it has to be reviewed.” The contract in question was signed by the Felipe Calderón government, which was in power until 2012. It is for the supply of ethane, a petrochemical that is used as a raw material for the production of ethylene, from which plastics are made.
Those involved in the deal were the Mexican Pemex and a consortium between the Mexican Grupo Idesa and the Braskem, a subsidiary of Odebrecht, which gained notoriety as one of the companies involved in the complex corruption scheme uncovered by Operation Lava Jato in Brazil, which shook the country's politics and the business world.
Pemex was a supplier of ethane to the Idea-Braskem consortium, of the Odebrecht group, and was supplying prices below the market, notes Reuters. The consortium, however, told the news agency that it had done nothing wrong and noted that it had conducted its own investigation and found no evidence of involvement in corruption in Mexico.
López Obrador came to power with the promise of fixing the wrong done by the previous government and one of them, according to him and his government, was the energy reform implemented by the Pena Nieto government. One of the first orders of business for Obrador was to suspend all oil and gas auctions and initiate a review of all contracts signed by the previous government with foreign oil and gas companies in search of evidence of corruption.
Video shows alleged corruption actions by Mexican executives Pemex and Obredecht consortium
The Mexican president insisted on the transparency of the case and asked the media to publicize the material, which shows an alleged Pemex employee delivering packages of money to aides to senators from the opposition National Action Party (PAN). “It is quite strong, it shows the filth of the corrupt regime that reigned,” said Obrador.
The material was released on social networks and shows collaborators of the current governor of Querétaro, Mexico, Francisco Domínguez, and former PAN senators Ernesto Cordero and José Luis Lavalle Maury count several packages with tickets, being accused that he would have received bribes when he worked for senators in 2013, which would link him to the Odebrecht Case.
The president of Mexico expressed that in addition to the fact that the material will help to make the population transparent and informative, the idea is to recover the resources that the State has lost due to acts of corruption.
