Teaching Comparative

Policy Making in Mexico

So, what are the forces behind policy making in Mexico? What are the factors that limit policy choices? This article from the Washington Post mentions some. Combined with information from their textbooks, what kind of list of forces and factors would your students produce?

Mexico's 69-Year-Old State Oil Firm Facing Threats to Its Stability

"Depleted reserves, crumbling pipelines, outdated technology and billions of dollars in debt... While Petroleos Mexicanos executives and union leaders prepare to deliver patriotic speeches and sing the national anthem Sunday on the 69th anniversary of the nationalization of Mexico's oil sector, many energy experts say Pemex needs to stop looking backward.

"... Government leaders and Pemex executives have been warning about the problems for years. But they haven't taken much action, in large part because the state-owned company is viewed as a national treasure... Mexicans are wary of any changes to its operation that could be seen as a threat to Mexican sovereignty...

"Mexico's constitution prohibits the company from forming production and exploration alliances with domestic and foreign private companies... No Mexican president -- even fiscally conservative, private enterprise-friendly leaders such as current President Felipe Calderón -- has ever suggested changing that...

"Oil experts say it is unlikely Mexico will see any significant energy sector proposals this year from Calderón, who is still recovering from a July election that he won by less than 1 percentage point over his rival, leftist firebrand Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

"López Obrador vehemently opposes private investment in the oil sector, and it was he who led massive marches in the late 1990s against privatizing the petrochemical industry...

"The issue is a serious one: The field is Mexico's largest single source of crude oil; oil provides nearly 40 percent of the government's revenue; and Mexico is one of the largest exporters of oil to the United States..."

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Labels: Mexico, policy, politics

posted by Ken Wedding @ 7:48 AM