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Mexico's President-Elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) has announced fracking will not be used to extract fossil fuels for the duration of his administration.
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The president-elect told journalists in San Luis Potosi that government attention will instead be focused on finding ways to extract and produce oil and gas with techniques that respect the environment and water sources.
"Today, at noon, I was made aware of the concern that this technique would be used to extract oil or gas, and I can say it right now: there will be no fracking in Mexico during the six-year period," said AMLO.
The government of outgoing President Enrique Peña Nieto started the use of fracking in Mexico. The technique is highly contaminating according to several studies.
The main, but far from the only, risk from fracking is the pollution of water sources, which has highly damaging consequences for the people who rely on them.
As a response to AMLO's statements, former President Vicente Fox used his Twitter account to ask him to back down from the statement.
"It is urgent to recover our capacity to produce oil, it is urgent to take advantage of the large deposits that we have in the north of the country," he posted.
"It is urgent to take advantage of fracking as modern technology. It is false that it affects natural resources and the environment."
AMLO will be sworn in as president on December 1.
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