AUG 27 MEXICAN PRESIDENT WANTS TO CHANGE THE CONSTITUTION

AUG 27  MEXICAN  PRESIDENT WANTS TO CHANGE THE CONSTITUTION

!Dios Mio!  Did you hear the news from Mexico City last week?  The Mexican President, Enrique Peña Nieto wants to change the Mexican Constitution!   As everyone knows, it’s very difficult to alter any sacred document.  First, you have to sneak into the National Palace at night.  Next, you have to carefully open the plastic case that holds the 1867 document.  Then…ever so carefully…apply White Out Correction Fluid to the proper page.  Finally, you must re-write the Constitution using Benito Juarez’s best handwriting.  Okay..WE ARE JOKING!  (However, if anyone could pull off a Mission Impossible caper, it’s ENRIQUE.  The dashing Mexican President is better looking than TOM CRUISE any day!)

Sorry!  Let’s return to Mexico.  Specifically, Señor Presidente wants Article #27 altered.  This would allow foreign corporations to participate in the finances of state-owned and state-run Petroleum company, PEMEX.   As any student of Mexican History knows, this is THE MOST IMPORTANT PART of the Mexican Constitution.  It was added by President Lazaro Cárdenas in 1938.  At first, this instant dismissal of British and Dutch companies met with swift international condemnation.   Fortunately for Mexico, the sanctions would quickly be lifted a couple years later when World War II broke out.   The massive oil revenues would continue well into the 1950’s and 1960’s.  They funded the ‘Mexican Miracle’ when Mexico City hosted the Olympics, the World Cup and built the best subway on earth!

Oops!  Back to last week’s announcement.  As expected, opposition politicians are clamoring for Presidente Enrique’s head.  Left-wing troublemaker Manuel Lopez Obrador is busy planning street protests again.   “Hands off the 1867 Constitution,” the signs read.  While his rhetoric does sound convincing, closer examination reveals a murky premise.  See, article #27 was placed in the Mexican Constitution by Benito Juarez to protect silver mines from foreign powers.  Then, seventy years later in 1938, it was re-interpreted and altered by President Cárdenas to include oil deposits.   Each time, the government manipulation of the constitution has been for the betterment of the Mexican people.  And this time it will benefit them as well.

See, the truth is PEMEX has already dug up and refined most of the easy-access crude oil in the Gulf of Mexico.  In order for the company to continue to supply gasoline, it will need to discover more reserves.  They seek the deeper shale deposits hidden under the vast body of water.  To do this, PEMEX will need help, as they do not have the advanced equipment needed for such a complicated task.  With foreign assistance, new deposits can be found and processed.  Simply put, ENP wants to keep petroleum production at the levels his nation is accustomed to.  He is not altering the Constitution to make himself Mexico’s Third Emperor like Lopez Obrador wants you to believe.

We here at the DUNER BLOG applaud this initative.  Rather than return to Iron Fist of Aztec Emperors, Spanish Viceroys and 11-term Presidents, Mexican President Peña Nieto has opened up dialogue and furthered Mexican democracy. A solution is possible.  The real problem here is Mexico’s growing thirst for gasoline.  If current trends continue, by 2020, Mexico will be an importer, and not an exporter of oil.  However, thanks to EPN, this will not happen. 

NOTE: Wouldn’t it be great if other North American democracies could work together with big business to solve an energy crisis?  HINT: I’m complaining about the 1% in the USA.