S O C I E T A L C L E A V A G E S
POLITICAL:
Nationalism
I N T R O D U C T I O N
The Mexican Government proposed to open its national oil reserves to foreign private companies due to the failings of the state-company PEMEX. The people are split between those who accept that Mexico needs foreign drilling experience and those who believe that the oil fields are a symbol of Mexican sovereignty and refuses to agree with the government's proposal.
H I S T O R I C A L C A U S E
The political background behind Mexican nationalism stems back to when Mexico nationalized its oil field in 1938. Due to the vast difference in pay between the Mexican workers and their international counterparts, and the failure of private oil companies from re-investing into the Mexican society, the Mexican government – with great thought and deliberation – seized and compensated the property of private oil companies operating in Mexico. This has actually been said to hold the same place in Mexican citizens as their independence day.
There is also negative stigma about privatizing industries in Mexico as when the North American Free Trade Agreement came into effect, many foreign investors bought and downsized many Mexican industries in steel factories. E F F E C T S O N P O L I T I C A L P A R T I C I P A T I O N
Due to the immense political value the nationalization of oil has on its people, many politicians are pressured against oil reform – which ironically can save the flailing petroleum industry in Mexico. Opposition/rivals to the current government such as Andres Obrador, who won more than 30 percent of the vote in the last election, leads street protests against this new plan (and, perhaps, gain a ton of potential votes). Some of the Mexican politicians are too scared to support the privatization of Mexican oil, and even more are campaigning against the proposed plan, trying to use this opportunity to win votes (essentially causing civil unrest in order to put themselves in power).
Additionally, as most of the Mexican national budget comes from oil, takes are being raised that more or less, mostly effects the working class. |
P O L I T I C A L P A R T I C I P A T I O N C H A R T
A 2012 poll of 2,400 Mexicans by the Center for Economic Research and Teaching said 65 percent opposed any foreign investment in the oil industry. The poll by the Mexico City-based think tank had a margin of error of 2 percentage points.
Interestingly, in a Vianovo poll conducted in 2013, only 51% of the population even heard of the energy reform plan, and of that number, 53% of the pollsters actually agreed with reform (however that is still a VERY small majority). However the data is very mixed, with 62% of the pollsters believing that Mexico was heading towards the wrong way, yet only 37% of them actually felt that there is a need of change from the state-run Pemex.
An interesting note about PEMEX: Though 63% of the pollsters gave it a positive rating, the most commonly words used to describe it were: "corrupt" and "high-priced."
It appears the most common method of political participation in Mexico is protesting and supporting whoever that does not agree with whomever, whose political moves are causing discomfort among the masses.
Interestingly, in a Vianovo poll conducted in 2013, only 51% of the population even heard of the energy reform plan, and of that number, 53% of the pollsters actually agreed with reform (however that is still a VERY small majority). However the data is very mixed, with 62% of the pollsters believing that Mexico was heading towards the wrong way, yet only 37% of them actually felt that there is a need of change from the state-run Pemex.
An interesting note about PEMEX: Though 63% of the pollsters gave it a positive rating, the most commonly words used to describe it were: "corrupt" and "high-priced."
It appears the most common method of political participation in Mexico is protesting and supporting whoever that does not agree with whomever, whose political moves are causing discomfort among the masses.
Here are some helpful sources for both articles and pictures(as some were shamelessly ripped from the websites):
This is the company that did the research, keep in mind that anything above 50%(even just barely) is still a majority.
http://vianovo.com/news/vianovo-releases-new-poll-on-mexico-energy-reforms
http://vianovo.com/news/energy-reform-and-mexican-public-opinion
http://rt.com/business/mexico-tax-oil-reform-612/
http://fuelfix.com/blog/2013/09/25/pemex-exec-says-mexico-needs-technology-to-boost-oil-output/
http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-09-28/world/42469352_1_mexican-oil-pemex-state-oil-monopoly
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2013/10/131002-mexico-energy-reform-pemex-oil/
http://www.rigzone.com/news/oil_gas/a/129180/Reformed_Mexico_Energy_Sector_Could_Be_in_Place_by_Early_2014
http://www.worldcrunch.com/world-affairs/mexican-president-039-s-big-ambitions-may-all-come-down-to-oil/pemex-pena-nieto-mexico-oil-government/c1s13584/#.UlJDlVBplTI
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/09/10/mexi-s10.html
http://www.latinospost.com/articles/27856/20130918/candigato-morris-calls-protests-against-taxes-pet-food-mexico.htm
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/commentary/pemex-plan-spreads-an-oily-sheen-over-mexicos-history/article13751634/
Bonus: As all the core nations field a strong national soccer team, did you know exactly how important is a good national soccer team? Actually, quite important:
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/2013/0913/Will-Mexico-s-soccer-team-and-economy-both-fall-short-of-goals
This is the company that did the research, keep in mind that anything above 50%(even just barely) is still a majority.
http://vianovo.com/news/vianovo-releases-new-poll-on-mexico-energy-reforms
http://vianovo.com/news/energy-reform-and-mexican-public-opinion
http://rt.com/business/mexico-tax-oil-reform-612/
http://fuelfix.com/blog/2013/09/25/pemex-exec-says-mexico-needs-technology-to-boost-oil-output/
http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-09-28/world/42469352_1_mexican-oil-pemex-state-oil-monopoly
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2013/10/131002-mexico-energy-reform-pemex-oil/
http://www.rigzone.com/news/oil_gas/a/129180/Reformed_Mexico_Energy_Sector_Could_Be_in_Place_by_Early_2014
http://www.worldcrunch.com/world-affairs/mexican-president-039-s-big-ambitions-may-all-come-down-to-oil/pemex-pena-nieto-mexico-oil-government/c1s13584/#.UlJDlVBplTI
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/09/10/mexi-s10.html
http://www.latinospost.com/articles/27856/20130918/candigato-morris-calls-protests-against-taxes-pet-food-mexico.htm
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/commentary/pemex-plan-spreads-an-oily-sheen-over-mexicos-history/article13751634/
Bonus: As all the core nations field a strong national soccer team, did you know exactly how important is a good national soccer team? Actually, quite important:
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/2013/0913/Will-Mexico-s-soccer-team-and-economy-both-fall-short-of-goals