Mexico Institute

HAPPENING NOW: Duncan Wood Testifies Before Senate Committee on Foreign Relations

mexicoinstitute — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 20:23:12 +0000

Jesus Villaseca (Flickr)

“Security Cooperation in Mexico: Examining the Next Steps in the U.S.-Mexico Security Relationship”

U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs / Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere and Global Narcotics Affairs

Duncan Wood, Director of the Mexico Institute, joins a panel of experts in testifying before the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations regarding the U.S.-Mexico security relationship.

Live webcast available here.

Transcript of Duncan Wood’s testimony available here.

Mexico: Tourism picture is brightening for Mazatlan

mexicoinstitute — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:31:04 +0000

Los Angeles Times, 6/18/2013

Things are looking up for tourism in Mazatlan, Mexico. The Pacific Coast resort, with 20-plus miles of beaches and dozens of high-end resorts, has long been a favorite with American tourists. Mexico’s ongoing drug war, however, caused concern on both sides of the border. But recent infrastructure changes, coupled with an overhaul of Mazatlan’s police force, have quieted fears.

Now the Mexican Riviera city has just had its best spring season ever and is poised to have a record-breaking summer season, according to tourism bureau statistics. The London Financial Times named it one of the Top 10 American Cities of the Future, rating it as Mexico’s top medium-sized city in terms of its future economic expectations and cost effectiveness.

Watch the Shockwave of an Explosion at Mexico’s Popocatépetl

mexicoinstitute — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:18:58 +0000

Photo: CM Ortega (Flickr)

Wired, 6/17/2013

Volcanism at Mexico’s Popocatépetl is highly punctuated, especially during its current level of activity where domes of lava grow in the summit crater. These domes occasionally collapse or are destroyed by explosions that can lessen the pressure on the magma beneath to create an even larger explosion. This is akin to popping the top off a shaken bottle of soda — the dissolved bubbles come out of solution rapidly as the pressure is released and you get an explosion of soda.

Today, Popocatépetl had one of those explosions, and thanks to the beautiful weather in Mexico and some nice placement of webcams surrounding the volcano, the explosion was caught on some pretty amazing webcam footage compiled by webcamsdemexico. The video is short, only 30 second long, but after the first few seconds of calm, the explosion occurs, sending a dark grey plume into the atmosphere above the volcano. Now, these explosions come with a lot of force, and you can see after the initial explosion is how the clouds of water vapor around Popocatepetl shudder as the explosion front moves past.

Pena Nieto Confident 75-Year Pemex Oil Monopoly to End This Year

mexicoinstitute — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 13:57:28 +0000

Bloomberg, 6/18/2013

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said he’s confident Congress will end the state oil monopoly this year, opening the way for companies such as Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell Plc to tap the nation’s reserves. In the model envisioned by Pena Nieto, state-owned Petroleos Mexicanos would develop some fields, while others are tapped by foreign and private companies. He declined to discuss more details of the proposal, or whether it would require a change in the constitution.

Seven decades after his party seized fields from the predecessors to Exxon and Shell, Pena Nieto is preparing for the return of international oil companies to arrest eight years of decline in crude output. An opening would probably be broad, from offshore drilling to shale fields similar to those that have revived the U.S. petroleum industry, Pena Nieto said. “It’s obvious that Pemex doesn’t have the financial capacity to be in every single front of energy generation,” the 46-year-old president said in an interview in London yesterday, before traveling to Northern Ireland for meetings with Group of Eight leaders. “Shale is one of the areas where there’s room for private companies, but not the only one.”

Mexico To Discuss Deals Worth $150M At Paris Air Show

mexicoinstitute — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 13:53:20 +0000

Fox News Latino, 6/17/2013

The governor of the Mexican state of Queretaro said Monday that he planned to discuss seven aviation investment projects worth $150 million with different companies during the 2013 Paris Air Show. Jose Calzada said in a press conference at the Le Bourget exhibition center that he had about 15 meetings planned with aviation and aerospace companies.

The governor will be meeting with Canada’s Bombardier, which has already invested about $500 million in Queretaro. Eurocopter, which has a presence in the state, is looking at “a potential investment of $500 million,” Calzada said. Queretaro is “a safe state, which invests in infrastructure,” and is home to an aeronautical university that provides trained personnel, the governor said during an event at the Mexico Pavillion.

Mexico in Talks to Open Energy Sector to Private Investors

mexicoinstitute — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 13:50:30 +0000

The Wall Street Journal, 6/17/2013

President Enrique Peña Nieto will seek in the coming months to end a taboo of nearly eight decades by opening the state-run oil and gas industry to private investment and competition, a move the government hopes will attract billions of dollars in investment. Mr. Peña Nieto’s government wants to allow private energy firms to share the risks involved in developing increasingly complex energy reserves such as deep water oil deposits by letting them produce oil and gas through profit-sharing deals, according to three high-level government and ruling party officials who gave details of the proposed reform for the first time.

The proposal, which would involve amending several articles of Mexico’s Constitution, will need two-thirds support from Mexico’s Congress. But officials say they are optimistic that they can get at least one of the two main opposition parties to back the plan without drastic changes. Formal negotiations will likely start after local elections on July 7, with a bill presented to Congress as early as August, the officials said.

Videgaray Says Mexico’s Growth to Quicken as Spending Rises

mexicoinstitute — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 13:45:22 +0000

Bloomberg, 6/17/2013

Mexico’s economic growth will quicken as the government increases spending in the second half of the year, Finance Minister Luis Videgaray said. The economy grew at the slowest pace in more than three years in the first quarter after spending was contained after a new government took over in December, Videgaray said in an interview in London. President Enrique Pena Nieto took office on Dec. 1.

Investor confidence in Mexico has waned after the economy expanded less than analysts expected in the first quarter and government plans to overhaul the state-controlled oil industry were held up. Capital flows also have slowed on signs the U.S. Federal Reserve could scale back asset purchases as economic growth strengthens. “We expect much more accelerated spending in the second semester,” Videgaray said. “The budget is there and the revenue is there.” Mexico’s government spending fell about 7 percent in real terms to 1.16 trillion pesos, or $90 billion, in the first four months of 2013 compared to the year-earlier period, according to data from the central bank.

EVENT – Energy Reform in Mexico: Implications for the United States

mexicoinstitute — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 21:02:37 +0000

Click here to RSVP…

Pena Nieto Plans End to 75 Year Pemex Monopoly in Oil Production

mexicoinstitute — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 20:01:54 +0000

Bloomberg, 6/17/2013

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said he’s negotiating support to break the state monopoly over oil and gas exploration and production this year to accelerate economic growth. In the model envisioned by Pena Nieto, state-owned Petroleos Mexicanos would develop certain fields, with others being tapped by foreign and private companies. He declined to discuss details of the proposal, or whether it would require a change in the constitution.

Seven decades after his party seized fields from the predecessors to Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA), Pena Nieto is preparing for the return of international oil companies to arrest eight years of decline in crude output. An opening would probably be broad, from offshore drilling to shale fields similar to those that have revived the U.S. petroleum industry, Pena Nieto said. “It’s obvious that Pemex doesn’t have the financial capacity to be in every single front of energy generation,” the 46-year-old president said in an interview in London today, before traveling to Northern Ireland for meetings with Group of Eight leaders. “Shale is one of the areas where there’s room for private companies, but not the only one.”

Will Reforms Pay Off This Time? Experts Assess Mexico’s Prospects

mexicoinstitute — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 19:19:55 +0000

Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, Second Quarter 2013

Mexico’s sharp first-quarter slowdown isn’t entirely surprising. While the country has made considerable economic advances in recent years, its growth is closely tied to that of its northern neighbor, and the U.S. economy stalled at year-end. Some Mexico indicators, such as industrial production, have been flat since mid-2012. The lackluster performance, although a cause for concern, gives impetus to the efforts of Mexico’s new president, Enrique Peña Nieto, who in his first months has worked with the nation’s major political parties to achieve labor, education and telecommunications reforms. Judicial, banking and energy industry changes are in the works.

The Pact for Mexico represents the latest attempt over a three-decade span to achieve reforms and propel the nation forward. The challenges Mexico confronts as it seeks to become a leader among emerging economies were considered at a Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas conference, “México: How to Tap Progress,” last fall in Houston. The meeting explored why economic expansion in Mexico has barely kept up with population growth and why the nation’s per capita income growth has trailed that of emerging-market economies such as Brazil and Chile.