Matthew Blomerth

Matthew aims to explore the controversy surrounding energy sector reform in Mexico. The debate over oil industry reform has long been a third rail of Mexican politics. Fierce disagreement rages between proponents of maintaining a nationalized oil industry with very limited private sector involvement and an increasingly loud chorus of dissidents who have proposed that private sector firms, including major multinational corporations, be allowed to reenter the Mexican market after being largely excluded for over seven decades. Until recently, the public s hostility to foreign involvement in domestic oil production, stemming from a long-standing mistrust of foreign intervention, prevented political leaders from advocating reform. However, the specter of growing inefficiency at a time when oil revenues account for approximately forty percent of the Mexican federal budget has prompted Mexico s president, Felipe Calder n, to take the risky step of promoting an ambitious privatization program that would open the door to heavy foreign investment.