8-12-08, 10:41 am

Mexico, Aug 11 (Prensa Latina) More than 90 percent of the voters in the seven Mexican states that participated on Sunday in the second stage of the referendum on oil in Mexico, rejected privatization of PEMEX, the country's publicly-owned oil company.

According to preliminary data published on Monday by the opposition FAP (Progressive Broad Front), which initiated the referendum, 91 percent of almost 40,000 Mexicans voters rejected handing over the national industry to private companies.

Manuel Camacho, coordinator of the plebiscite, also said 89 percent of the voters expressed disagreement with the proposal promoted by the right-wing Calderon administration to privatize PEMEX.

Around 3,000 vote collecting tables were established on Sunday in Tabasco, Campeche, Colima, Oaxaca, Puebla, Quintana Roo, and Yucatan states by representatives of the FAP, which is composed of the Democratic Revolution Party, the Workers Party, and the Convergence parties.

In the first stage of the plebiscite about the issue on July 27 in 10 Mexican states and the Federal District, more than 80 percent of the 2,500,000 Mexicans that went to the polls ruled out privatization of that industry.

In the capital only, 87 percent of the voters was in favor of the NO option about participation of private companies in PEMEX's activity, while 84 percent disapproved of the Executive's initiative that was presented to the legislature.

From Prensa Latina