Pemex vote draws old political machinery closer to Mexican president

FILE PHOTO: Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador addresses the nation on his second anniversary as the President of Mexico, at the National Palace in Mexico City, Mexico, December 1, 2020. REUTERS/Henry Romero//File Photo

The election of a veteran lawmaker of the former ruling party to lead the union of state oil firm Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) moves an influential piece of Mexico's old power structure closer to President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who blessed the vote.

Lopez Obrador on Tuesday said Monday's vote won by Ricardo Aldana, treasurer of the union and an ally of longstanding boss Carlos Romero Deschamps, was a historic exercise in labor freedoms that had broken with rigged elections of the past.