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[progchat_action] Mexico - Pemex compromise pleases no one

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Steven L. Robinson

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Oct 25, 2008, 2:12:11 AM10/25/08
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Move to reform oil giant met with ire in Mexico

By Ken Ellingwood
Tribune Newspapers
October 24, 2008

Mexico City -The Mexican Senate on Thursday handily approved an energy
reform package designed to modernize the state-owned oil monopoly and boost
declining production.

The seven measures, watered down from changes proposed by conservative
President Felipe Calderon, won backing from all three of Mexico's main
political parties in the Senate. Prospects for passage in the lower house
are good.

The measure has drawn criticism from analysts who say the reform may be too
minor to do Mexico much good in tapping new petroleum deposits sorely needed
to bolster an economy in need. Leftist critics, meanwhile, worry that it
will open the door to privatizing a state industry long seen by many
Mexicans as a source of national strength and pride.

Despite lopsided support for the bill, senators retreated to an alternative
site 1 1/2 miles away to vote after protesters descended on the Senate
building, which was surrounded by riot police.

The protest was led by leftist firebrand Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who
lost to Calderon in a disputed election in 2006 and who opposes any effort
to privatize the oil giant, Pemex.

Lopez Obrador acknowledged the bill would not privatize Pemex. But he urged
followers to block the Senate, saying the bill isn't explicit enough in
denying private contractors a share of earnings from newly tapped oil.

Mexico nationalized the oil industry in 1938 out of anger over exploitation
by U.S. and other foreign companies, and it has long treated Pemex as part
of its national identity. Foreign and private companies are barred from
investing directly in Pemex.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-mexico-oil_24oct24,0,2739
67.story

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