A major piece of energy legislation failed in Mexico’s congress over the weekend.

The constitutional reform, which would have privileged electricity produced by the federal electricity utility the CFE over private producers, fell short of the necessary votes on Sunday.

The major legislative defeat was described as a “betrayal” of the nation by Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, one of the measure's key backers. He said its opponents were protecting the interests of foreign companies over those of the Mexican people.

But he also called on legislators to carry out a separate reform of the country’s mining law that would nationalize the country’s lithium resources. Sonora has one of the world’s largest lithium deposits.