Legislators of the Broad Progressive Front, a coalition of opposition parties, stormed the podiums in both chambers of Mexico’s Congress on April 10 to protest President Felipe Calderón’s proposed energy “reform.” Front members forced the sessions to end and barricaded Congress.
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The protestors are demanding a 120-day national open debate on the bill. The leftist legislators, many belonging to the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD), have continued to protest inside Congress. The sit-in has forced Mexico’s Congress to leave its chambers in order to continue their work—the first time in almost 20 years that this has happened.
By pushing the bill, Calderón is doing the bidding of U.S. and other foreign oil corporations. The bill will allow greater foreign and private ownership of Pemex, also giving the state oil company more freedom to supposedly seek outside help with the advanced development and exploration of oil fields. It would be able to offer “rewards” or “incentives” to foreign investors for lucrative oil finds and good performance.
Calderón’s proposal has also sparked the outrage of the masses. On April 13, hundreds of thousands of protesters flooded the streets of Mexico City in a protest action organized by the National Movement for the Defense of Petroleum. They have announced plans for massive demonstrations throughout Mexico on April 20. Popular seizures of Pemex property are also being planned.
Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the PRD leftist presidential candidate who lost to Calderón in 2006, was present at the protest and is playing a prominent role in the mobilizations. Obrador previously helped mobilize mass demonstrations when evidence of fraud emerged following the bitterly contested 2006 elections.
The proposed bill is seen by many for what it truly is: an opening for the United States and other imperialist countries to begin stealing more oil profits from the Mexican people. War was the weapon of choice for U.S. imperialists to go after Iraq’s oil; neoliberalism is their weapon of choice to control Mexico’s. The people of Mexico seem ready to fight to retain control of their energy resources.
On March 18, 1938, Mexico nationalized its oil, after months of struggle by the oil workers for wage increases that the U.S. and British oil companies refused to accede to. It was a legendary action that is now honored by a national holiday. Mexico’s constitution provides that the oil is the property of the state and that it is illegal for private investors to share in the profits.
Oil industry revenue makes up 40 percent of the national budget. Mexico is the third largest supplier of oil to the United States and was the world’s sixth largest producer of oil in 2006. Yet, Mexico has become increasingly indebted to imperialist banks, especially since 1982 when oil prices fell dramatically.
Calderón claims that foreign investment is needed to boost a fall off of production. Some people are accusing him of inflating the figures in order to push the bill through.
At the April 13 protest, Melba López, a retired teacher from Guerrero, said, “I’m ready to do whatever it takes. The oil has to remain the property of the Mexican people.”
