Step away from the perimeter
Since bursting out of the gates on December 1, 2012, the Mexican administration headed by President Enrique Peña Nieto of the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) has gone so totally loco with reform initiatives that they’re starting to bunch up in Congress like a Talladega pileup. As we discussed in a recent post, it’s remarkable how the new government seems to be taking on everyone and everything at once, including long-time PRI allies and interests heretofore so entrenched that they’re considered national institutions, such as Telmex and Televisa. Of course, once you start combing through the nuts and bolts of the reforms, often they are not as radical as they are portrayed superficially and provide safety nets of sorts for the affected parties. Peña and his team have intimated that there are no more sacred cows. Here in Mexico, however, there are sacred cows and then there are supernaturally venerated pulsating bovine deities like the state oil monopoly, and the mere suggestion that perhaps it’s time they visit the slaughterhouse unleashes truly riotous rending of garments. Peña’s highly anticipated energy reform is still a ways off as the administration heads into its running start, but in the meantime, the PRI is whetting our appetite with the legislative equivalent of a warmup band: a proposal that would amend the Mexican Constitution to allow foreigners to buy beachfront property in their own names. Read the rest of this entry »
Police helicopters are clattering overhead outside our window in Mexico City this morning as the town buzzes with a frenzy of marvel, speculation and no small dose of schadenfreude over the stunning news that union leader Elba Esther Gordillo was arrested on charges of embezzlement to the tune of over US$150 million. The helicopters may just be chasing some bank robber, but it adds to the sensational atmosphere surrounding one of the most eye-popping political hits in decades here.
The pace of growth of Mexico’s construction industry may have dived in the fourth quarter lat year, but the Mexican Construction Industry Chamber (CMIC) is feeling guardedly optimistic about the sector’s prospects going forward.
