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U.S. Secretary of Energy meets with Mexican officials

Mexico City, Mexico — On Thursday morning, the Secretary of Foreign Relations, Marcelo Ebrard, met with the Secretary of Energy of the United States, Jennifer Granholm. On Thursday afternoon, Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, also met with her.

The Foreign Ministry reported that they participated in bilateral talks as a follow-up to the talks between presidents López Obrador and Biden, “to advance joint agreements and explore opportunities for collaboration in the field of renewable energy for the coming years.”

Moments before the meeting, Granholm thanked the Mexican government for the invitation to discuss the electricity reform and other issues of importance to both nations.

“The meetings that our leaders had in Washington emphasized the importance of a strong North America and we are excited to be able to continue with that,” said the U.S. official, adding that “Mexico has an enviable and amazing set of clean resources that we want to talk about.”

“Like all friends, there may be issues that we will also have to work on such as the electricity reform, but we know that in the end, we are going to be strong allies that firmly supports a strong American economy,” Granholm said.

Foreign Minister Ebrard welcomed the secretary and her team and said that in the coming weeks, “our joint efforts will be defined as part of a North American vision of economic well-being.”

The visit takes place at a time when a reform of the electricity sector and Pemex is being discussed, as well as within the framework of the purchase of the Deer Park refinery in Texas.

Ahead of Granholm’s visit, in a letter, four Democratic senators urged her and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to “more forcefully express concerns” about López Obrador’s energy agenda, arguing that it was “antithetical” to relations between the United States and Mexico.

“It would also threaten at least $44 billion in private investment in Mexico’s energy sector, (and) negatively impact US private sector investment in Mexico,” Senators Bob Menendez, Brian Schatz, Tim Kaine and Jeff Merkley wrote.

On Thursday afternoon, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador met with the United States Secretary of Energy, Jennifer Granholm.

“We deal with matters of interest to our peoples and nations. Respect, understanding and the will to cooperate for development prevailed,” said AMLO.

On Friday, the group will sit down in a round table meeting on the energy sector.