The name says it all. PEMEX stands for Petróleos Mexicanos (Mexican Petroleum). Last December, five PEMEX stations opened in Houston, marking its debut in the U.S. gas station market. At this point, former President and Gen. Lázaro Cárdenas must be turning over in his grave.
These new franchisees will determine the fuel’s selling price, according to Houston’s market conditions (At $1.99 per gallon, it is now among the cheapest in Houston). Now, in the midst of a 22 percent price hike or “gasolinazo,” back in Mexico, this is outrageous. As of Feb. 13, the price of gasoline was $2.92 per gallon.
As a Mexican living in the United States, I wouldn’t participate in PEMEX’s strategy to expand its horizons to the United States, at the expense of the Mexican people, in order to fulfill the mandate of economic value in the competitive environment resulting from energy reform (another gigantic blow for Mexico).
Petroleum is the most important natural resource we have in Mexico. No biggie.
The nationalization of Mexican petroleum was the expropriation of all oil reserves, facilities and foreign oil companies in Mexico. It took place on March 18, 1938, when then-President Cárdenas declared that all mineral and oil reserves found within Mexico belong to the government.
Two hours before informing his cabinet of his decision, Cárdenas made the announcement on the radio to the rest of the country. Five days later, a crowd of 100,000 (according to the press) rallied in support of Cárdenas.
On April 12, 1938, a crowd of thousands of women gathered in front of the Palacio de Bellas Artes to make donations to pay the debt to foreign companies. Donations varied from chickens to jewelry, since the women encompassed all social classes. Several chronicles have been written about this moment. It is considered by many as the first act of emancipation of the 20th century, which served as inspiration for other transcendent social movements.
On June 7, 1938, President Cárdenas issued a decree creating Petróleos Mexicanos (PEMEX), with exclusive rights over exploration, extraction, refining and commercialization of oil in Mexico. On June 20, PEMEX started operations.
PEMEX held a monopoly of Mexico’s oil and gas sector until President Enrique Peña Nieto signed reforms last year opening the energy market to private investors for the first time in 76 years.
Now, Peña is not the only traitor. There have been several other presidents who have tried to alter the constitution so that foreign companies could interfere in the petroleum industry (perforation, extraction, refining and distribution).
Let’s go back and remember that President Adolfo López Mateos delivered a visionary speech during the act of the electric industry nationalization on Sept. 27, 1960.
“People of Mexico, I give back to you the electric energy, which is exclusive property of the nation, but don’t get confused, because in future years some bad Mexicans will try to return the oil and our resources to foreign investors.”
The history of Mexican petroleum has barely started to be written in its reality.
