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Mexico’s Oil Referendum

by Manuel Perez-Rocha, Emily Schwartz Greco | Aug 6, 2008

Mexico is engaged in one of the most pivotal debates in its modern history: the future of its oil industry. The question is whether oil operations should remain in state hands or be privatized. Mexico exported 1.1 million barrels of oil per day to the United States in 2007, making it the third-largest supplier of oil to the United States, after Canada and Saudi Arabia. Yet the U.S. media has paid scant attention to the debate over what will happen with Mexico’s most important industry.

Mexico’s Battle over Oil

by Laura Carlsen, John Feffer | May 15, 2008

On April 8, President Felipe Calderon dropped a political bomb on the Mexican political scene. The Senate received an executive initiative that would fundamentally change the structure and operations of the oil company, Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex). Key operations of the state-owned enterprise would pass into private hands.

Mexico’s Democratic Transition Still Incomplete

by Mark Engler, Emily Schwartz Greco | Jul 5, 2006

As the results of the July 2 presidential elections in Mexico head to the courts, it could be several days or even weeks before the final winner is determined. The current vote counts have given a razor thin advantage to Felipe CalderÃ³n of the right-wing National Action Party (PAN), to which incumbent President Vicente Fox belongs. Still, with the margin well under one percent and with irregularities in the vote-counting process being challenged, progressive former Mexico City mayor, AndrÃ©s Manuel LÃ³pez Obrador of the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), might conceivably eke out a victory. While U.S. newspapers declare CalderÃ³n the winner, Mexican electoral authorities have yet to do so, recognizing the tribunal that is reviewing disputes as the final arbiter for the race.