Tens of Thousands in Mexico Protest Energy rReform Friday January 31, 2014

Founder and leader of the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD), Cuauhtemoc Cardenas (C) leads a march against the energy reform, in Mexico City on Friday January 31, 2014

Tens of thousands of people have protested in the centre of Mexico City against President Enrique Pena Nieto's planned overhaul of the energy sector. 

An estimated 65,000 people gathered for the protest in the Zocalo, the main square in capital city.Some 2,500 police officers were deployed but there were no incidents of violence.

Opposition leader Andres Lopez Obrador told the crowd to surround the Congress
"We will carry out the sieges we have agreed upon in the Senate, the Lower House and the local assemblies. I will be there for as long as it takes," Andres Lopez Obrador told thousands of protesters in Zocalo square.

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto says the plan to allow private investment in the oil and gas sector is needed to boost the economy

The reforms, which open Mexico's oil industry to foreign investment for the first time in 75 years, were approved in Congress and ratified by a majority of Mexican states in late 2013.

The rule changes are supported by two of the country's leading parties, the PRI and the conservative National Action Party (PAN).

But the third party, the PRD, vehemently opposes the reforms.The PRD is hoping to hold a referendum in 2015 to overturn the measures.