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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | April 2008 
Mexico Opposition Sells DVDs Critical of Energy Plan
 Adriana Lopez Caraveo & Jens Erik Gould - Bloomberg
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| | Lopez Obrador's party has criticized Calderon's government for airing television ads that say the state oil company must explore in deep waters for oil. | | |
A Mexican opposition group fighting President Felipe Calderon's plan to open the state oil industry to private and foreign investment is selling a DVD that criticizes the government's plan and proposes alternatives.
Supporters of former presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador produced the video, which says Mexico can provide needed investment for the oil industry by redirecting oil revenue and reducing public spending rather than by seeking deals with private companies. The DVDs are sold by peddlers in Mexico City's subway for 15 pesos ($1.42) each.
The video underscores opposition to loosening the state's 70-year monopoly on oil, the only way Calderon says Mexico can halt declines in output. The government's delay in releasing details of the plan, which it had said would be ready last month, has given Lopez Obrador more time to rally opposition to what he says is the sale of the nation's oil riches.
"People who don't read can see this," said Mario Di Costanzo, a Lopez Obrador ally who advises him on finance. "The DVD aims to spread our proposals, our studies."
Lopez Obrador, a member of the Party of the Democratic Revolution, or PRD, says he is the legitimate president of Mexico after he lost the 2006 election by a razor-thin margin. Di Costanzo calls himself the finance minister of Lopez Obrador's "legitimate government."
Mexico's constitution reserves oil to the government, banning outside investment in exploration or production. The country nationalized most aspects of the oil industry in 1938. Calderon aims to change secondary laws to open the industry.
DVD Footage
Lopez Obrador's DVD proposes Mexico "rescue the integral character of Pemex," referring to Petroleos Mexicanos. It shows excerpts of the former candidate criticizing Calderon's plan in a speech in front of thousands of supporters, and also contains interviews and shows press clippings.
"We can't let ourselves be cheated by the arguments of the government that wants to sell and hand over this natural resource to foreigners," Di Costanzo said in the video, speaking in front of a picture of Lopez Obrador.
Investing six months worth of excess oil profits in refining would allow Mexico to cut gasoline imports by 80 billion pesos per year, Lopez Obrador's supporters said in a separate presentation. Mexico could also use excess oil profits to invest to access more oil in shallow-water fields, they say.
Lopez Obrador's party has criticized Calderon's government for airing television ads that say the state oil company must explore in deep waters for oil.
Pressuring Government
Carlos Navarrete, the PRD leader in the Senate, said in a telephone interview that the DVD helped pressure the government to delay submitting an energy proposal.
"Lopez Obrador's movement has influenced public opinion," said Navarrete, who added that he had seen the DVD.
Lopez Obrador and his supporters have promised to hold rallies at congressional buildings, airports and financial institutions to protest reformation of the energy industry.
Di Costanzo said Lopez Obrador didn't profit from the proceeds of the DVD because the cost covered production expenses. It sells for about the same amount as bootleg DVDs of commercial movies sold in Mexico's markets.
The government says crude output may drop by a third within eight years unless partnerships with other companies give it access to technology that would allow it to drill deepwater wells. Petroleos Mexicanos generates about 40 percent of federal revenue.
PRI Support
Opposition to an energy bill by lawmakers from Lopez Obrador's party has made getting the support of the other major opposition party, the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, crucial for Calderon's government.
That may give the PRI leverage to negotiate changes to the proposal, said Armand Peschard-Sverdrup, senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
"This further accentuates the importance of the PRI for President Calderon," Peschard-Sverdrup said. "He takes their terms or walks away empty handed."
PRI lawmakers have said it is unlikely Congress will have time to debate and approve a bill before it recesses April 30.
To contact the reporters on this story: Adriana Lopez Caraveo in Mexico City at adrianalopez(at)bloomberg.net; Jens Erik Gould in Los Angeles at jgould9(at)bloomberg.net |
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