Exclusive: The powerful lobbyist that pushed AMLO towards resolution in the pipeline conflict

The resolution of the conflict between State-owned CFE and private energy firms over the operation of a gas pipeline had a discreet lobbyist named Abraham Zamora, CEO of energy firm IEnova and ex-chief of staff of former Finance Minister Luis Videgaray.

Zamora deployed his vast connections - and those of his former boss - to get the Government to retreat from arbitration and take a modification in the contracts that stemmed the savings announced Tuesday by Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

This result was not easy to achieve because in the President's inner circle the main thesis was that the Government had to appeal to arbitration, where victory would be obtained. The argument was based on the fact that in the pipeline contracts, the agreed-upon court for resolving contingencies was in London, and not Washington-based ICSID, where defeat was most likely. Also, this would have guaranteed a heated exchange between CFE director Manuel Bartlett and AMLO.

AMLO liked the idea of ??going into litigation, but in the last two weeks, very clear messages arrived from Washington regarding the matter. First came a letter to the President from the Governor of Texas Greg Abbot. The Mexican government refused to make it public.

After this first message, there were discreet efforts from two powerful DC players: Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House, who warned the AMLO administration that if the pipeline issue was not resolved, the legislative endorsement for the USMCA could be at risk.

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After his exit from the presidential cabinet, former Minister of Finance Carlos Urzúa warned the President that Pelosi was on the board of Sempra Energy, the parent company of IEnova. This was an honest mistake. Pelosi is not a member of the board, but Sempra is one of her most consistent donors when campaign season begins, a well-known fact in DC.

The other powerful player who lobbied for the San Diego-based firm was Secretary of Energy Rick Perry, a former Texas governor who has a very close relationship with the company. According to sources close to the firm, it is common for Sempra executives to have dinner at the White House with President Donald Trump. Perry communicated his concerns to the Mexican president.

On the Mexican side, the lobbyist in charge of delivering these messages to the President was none other than Zamora. This entire episode confirms something long suspected about the Mexican President: AMLO does not want any sort of conflict abroad. It first became clear with the Central American immigration issue and his willingness to satisfy Trump. But it happens almost daily with different minor conflicts, such as his silent support for the United Arab Emirates in the Aeromexico-Emirates airline battle, his neutrality in the Venezuelan crisis, or his decision not to receive the Peronist candidate from Argentina until he is elected president.