Thursday October 15, 06:11 PM
Mexico braces for power company protests
MEXICO CITY (AFP) - Electricity workers planned mass protests in Mexico City Thursday against the surprise weekend closure of a state-run power distribution company, union leaders and police said.
Some 44,000 active workers and 22,000 retirees were affected by the government's closure on Sunday of Luz y Fuerza which served more than one fifth of the country.
Organizers said more than 200 workers' groups were backing a mass main protest march down the principal axis of Mexico City, to end up at the capital's giant Zocalo square.
More than 50,000 protesters were expected, the capital's deputy police chief told Milenio TV channel.
Some 2,000 transport police had been called in to help control traffic in the sprawling capital, added Alfredo Hernandez.
The city government said Wednesday it had suspended an international book fair, which had set up tents in the Zocalo this week, to "guarantee security" ahead of the protest.
The main march was due to start at 4:00 pm (2100 GMT).
The government said Sunday it was closing down Luz y Fuerza, which supplies power to Mexico City and the surrounding region, because it had been losing around 30 percent of electrical supplies due to defects in the system, at a cost of around 25,000 million pesos (1.9 billion dollars) per year.
Tens of thousands of residents of Mexico City and central Mexico suffered sporadic power cuts following the shutdown.
The energy ministry promised late Tuesday that the larger, state-run Federal Electricity Commission (CFE (Brussels: CFE.BR - news) ) would guarantee a replacement service.
The powerful Mexican Electrical Workers Union has called for workers to reject pay packages and to protest.
Union leaders have rejected accusations that they will disrupt power services to more than 20 million people in central Mexico.
Amid a heated dispute with the union, the government last week refused to recognize the election of Martin Esparza as its secretary general, due to accusations of fraud.
Between 2003 and 2008, Luz y Fuerza had an income of some 17 billion dollars compared with costs of more than 32 billion dollars, according to official figures.
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