Mexican Academy Award-winning director Alfonso Cuarón challenged President Enrique Peña Nieto to answer ten questions on the new laws regarding the energy sector which would open the oil sector, under state administration, to private investment.
Energy reform in Mexico was approved in late 2013, seeking to improve private investment in the country's main sector. The reform was approved quickly by Congress despite many protests and marches organized by left-wing parties, according to Reuters.
These were the questions Alfonso Cuarón asked President Peña:
1. When will the prices be lowered for gas, gasoline and electric energy? What other tangible benefits will the Reform have? What is the timeline for these benefits?
2. What will e the specific effects on the environment with this huge increase in oil exploits? What measures will be taken to protect it and who will take responsibility in the case of spills or disasters?
3. Hydrocarbons are non-renewable and their effect on the environment is huge. Are there any plans to develop technologies and infrastructures for alternative energy in our country?
4. The proposed energy reform will deliver multi-million dollar countries. In a country in which the law is so flimsy (and sometimes non-existent), how will you avoid large-scale corruption?
5. Transnational oil companies have as much power as governments. What measures will be taken to avoid the democratic process in our country becoming entrapped by illicit financing and other pressures from large corporations?
6. What regulatory tools will the Mexican government use to avoid the predatory practices that can be used by private companies who form part of this sector?
7. How will you ensure that the reforms don't increase the productivity of Pemex without confronting the problems of corruption within the company?
8. If Pemex contributed more than half the federal budget for 70 years (with which the national infrastructure was built, education was increased and free healthcare was provided), now that the profits from oil will not go directly from Pemex to the government, how will this budget be compensated for?
9. How will you ensure that utilities won't be funneled to the expansion of bureaucracy without reaching the original owners of those resources, namely the Mexican people?
10. Two disastrous experiences remain in Mexican memory: the crisis of 1982 (following the ineptitude and corruption that characterized the management of the oil industry in the 70's) and the opaque and directional reforms implemented in the time of Salinas de Gortari, that were good for private companies but dubious for consumers. How will you guarantee that these experiences which have delved into the depths of society will not be repeated? You and your party carry the historical responsibility of these reforms. Do you really believe that Mexico has the tools to implement these reforms with effectiveness, social conscience and transparency?
The filmmaker ended his letter by thanking the President for his help.
Through his Twitter account, President Peña thanked Cuarón for the letter, assuring him that he will answer each of the ten questions once secondary laws are introduced.
"Your questions enrich the debate and will help raise awareness on the reach and benefits that the Reform will bring Mexicans," President Peña tweeted.
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