OIL IS POLITICS
Por Martha Koestner
Ghandi once said, “Natural resources are more than enough to satisfy the planet earth
BUT never to satisfy avarice.” On March 18th Mexico celebrates 70 years of Oil
Expropriation begun in 1938 by the Mexican president Lazaro Cardenas. The
Expropiación Petrolera ("Oil expropriation") declared that all oil reserves found in
Mexican soil belonged to the nation, according to the principle stated in the Article 27 of
the Constitution of 1917. A small background, in 1935, all companies in the business
of extraction, processing, and exporting of oil in Mexico were foreign companies with
foreign capital. These companies attempted to block the creation of labor unions and
used legal and illegal tactics to do so. However, the creation of individual unions within
each company was made possible, but work conditions differed from one another. On
June 7 , President Cárdenas issued a decree creating Petroleos Mexicanos(PEMEX),
with exclusive rights over exploration, extraction, refining, and commercialization of oil
in Mexico. On June 20, PEMEX started operations. Well after this “big nationalism”,
Mexicans still are suffering or maybe enjoying huge corruption within oil mexican
unions where their leaderships get higer wages than american diplomatics. It is so
funny to think that PEMEX is a mexican “legacy” for Mexicans which serves exclusively
as a Mexican monopoly. Sure, we can take that. Mexicans don’t allow foreign
companies with foreign capital to take all of that with them. However, it is ok for Mexican
oil executives, even Mexican presidents, to put it all the profits back in their pockets.
The Mexican socialist left wing (Revolutionary Democratic Party, “PRD”) says:” no
foreign oil ownership, neither foreign association, only foreign contracts to improve
technology”-( which is the way it’s worked since Salinas de Gortari’s presidency in the
1990’s). The difference is that these socialists (PRDistas) claim to build more
refineries by re-adjusting PEMEX’s profits and to appeal to the mexican engginers
experience. On the other hand, the righ conservative mexican wing says:” PEMEX
needs desesperatly foreign association to be competitive with oil products and prices
and develop new natural oil resources in the Gulf of Mexico because the “old fashion”
PEMEX structure is obsolet”. Well, after 70 years there is still a debate in Mexico
whether or not to privatize the energy resources, mainly, PEMEX, of course. For years,
Mexicans were waiting for a “change” in their democracy. Vicente Fox came in 2000
and went in 2006. Indeed, there was a “change”: a different form of corruption with no
real difference for Mexicans. Democracy in Mexico is a perfect game: PRI (Institutional
Revolutionary Party) is out, PAN (National Action Party) without political success, PRD
Revolutionary Democratic Party) …who knows? Does Mexico deserves a third option
this time?
___________________________________________________________________
Por Martha Koestner
Ghandi once said, “Natural resources are more than enough to satisfy the planet earth
BUT never to satisfy avarice.” On March 18th Mexico celebrates 70 years of Oil
Expropriation begun in 1938 by the Mexican president Lazaro Cardenas. The
Expropiación Petrolera ("Oil expropriation") declared that all oil reserves found in
Mexican soil belonged to the nation, according to the principle stated in the Article 27 of
the Constitution of 1917. A small background, in 1935, all companies in the business
of extraction, processing, and exporting of oil in Mexico were foreign companies with
foreign capital. These companies attempted to block the creation of labor unions and
used legal and illegal tactics to do so. However, the creation of individual unions within
each company was made possible, but work conditions differed from one another. On
June 7 , President Cárdenas issued a decree creating Petroleos Mexicanos(PEMEX),
with exclusive rights over exploration, extraction, refining, and commercialization of oil
in Mexico. On June 20, PEMEX started operations. Well after this “big nationalism”,
Mexicans still are suffering or maybe enjoying huge corruption within oil mexican
unions where their leaderships get higer wages than american diplomatics. It is so
funny to think that PEMEX is a mexican “legacy” for Mexicans which serves exclusively
as a Mexican monopoly. Sure, we can take that. Mexicans don’t allow foreign
companies with foreign capital to take all of that with them. However, it is ok for Mexican
oil executives, even Mexican presidents, to put it all the profits back in their pockets.
The Mexican socialist left wing (Revolutionary Democratic Party, “PRD”) says:” no
foreign oil ownership, neither foreign association, only foreign contracts to improve
technology”-( which is the way it’s worked since Salinas de Gortari’s presidency in the
1990’s). The difference is that these socialists (PRDistas) claim to build more
refineries by re-adjusting PEMEX’s profits and to appeal to the mexican engginers
experience. On the other hand, the righ conservative mexican wing says:” PEMEX
needs desesperatly foreign association to be competitive with oil products and prices
and develop new natural oil resources in the Gulf of Mexico because the “old fashion”
PEMEX structure is obsolet”. Well, after 70 years there is still a debate in Mexico
whether or not to privatize the energy resources, mainly, PEMEX, of course. For years,
Mexicans were waiting for a “change” in their democracy. Vicente Fox came in 2000
and went in 2006. Indeed, there was a “change”: a different form of corruption with no
real difference for Mexicans. Democracy in Mexico is a perfect game: PRI (Institutional
Revolutionary Party) is out, PAN (National Action Party) without political success, PRD
Revolutionary Democratic Party) …who knows? Does Mexico deserves a third option
this time?
___________________________________________________________________
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