Mexico’s President Enrique Pena Nieto was greeted with a protest against his energy reform in Mexico City.
AFP reported that 40,000 protestors made up of teachers, unions members, and activist took to the streets.
One banner in English told Nieto’s party, “Sell your body. It’s yours. The oil is mine.”
Another banner said, “NO to the sale of Pemex."
Nieto became president last year and promised to boost Mexico’s economy through reforms, reforms that have caused discontentment. The form that has sparked the protest is energy reform.
Under energy reform, Nieto wants to allow foreign investors into Mexico’s oil and energy industry. However, Mexico’s oil industry has not had any foreign involvement in 75 years according to BBC Online.
The fact that Mexico controls its own oil is a form of pride for the citizens.
The president wants to allow foreign investors into Pemex, Mexico’s largest oil company, for oil drilling explorations.
Pemex accounts for more than a third of the money that funds the Mexican government and is a form of pride for the citizens, since it is state owned.
Nieto’s opposition Andres Lopez Obrador told the protestors to surround Congress this week.
Obrador, who leads the Party of the Democratic Revolution, has threatened to break ties with Nieto, and his party, if this reform comes to pass.
"We will carry out the sieges we have agreed upon in the Senate, the Lower House and the local assemblies. I will be there for as long as it takes," Lopez said to the protestors gathered in Zocalo square.
None of the reforms pushed or proposed by the president has found favor with the people, which are shown by the protest, and Nieto’s favor among the people has been low in the polls.