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Proposal to ban open-pit mining advances in Mexican Congress

A committee in Mexico's. lower home of Congress approved two constitutional reforms that. would prohibit openpit mining and fracking, along with restrict. using genetically customized corn.

The propositions, handed down Wednesday, will be taken up for. discussion by the full lower home after lawmakers return to. session in September.

The modifications would also avoid the exploitation of water in. areas with water scarcity, with the exception of extraction in. inhabited areas for domestic use, according to a statement. launched Wednesday night.

The modifications are part of a bundle of constitutional reforms. provided in February by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador,. which consists of other proposals, consisting of one to restructure the. judiciary.

In Mexico, constitutional changes should be authorized by a. two-thirds vote in the plenary session of the both the lower. house and the Senate, and by the bulk of local congresses. In the June elections, Lopez Obrador's ruling Morena celebration and. its allies attained a certified bulk in the lower house and. were just two seats short in the Senate.

Lopez Obrador has actually criticized the mining agreements with. personal companies signed by his predecessors and states that his. administration has actually not granted any brand-new private concessions in. the sector.

The Mexican Mining Chamber (Camimex) opposes the ban on. open-pit mining, stating such a restriction would cause a 1%. contraction in the country's GDP and threaten some 200,000 jobs.

Concerning the genetically modified corn, the proposition comes. as Mexico and the United States have an ongoing conflict at a. panel of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Contract. The lower home. committee's reform would permit the entry of genetically. modified corn into Mexico only for non-human intake and. just if the grain dos not have the capacity to germinate.

(source: Reuters)