Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) will not be privatized, on the contrary, it will be modernized, presidential candidate Xochitl Galvez Ruiz promised.
On a visit to the state of Campeche, she assured oil workers and former employees of the state-run company that, if she wins the next elections, her government will not privatize Pemex. Instead, she clarified it will be modernized with “cutting-edge” technology to compete globally.
“Don’t you let anyone tell you that we are going to privatize Pemex”, she said raising her voice.
“We want to modernize Pemex, which lost 800 billion pesos in refining because of ineptness, corruption, and stupidity,” she added.
She warned that the current administration is putting the country’s finances at risk as a result of mismanagement of oil finances.
Galvez Ruiz, candidate for the “Force and Heart for Mexico” coalition has been on a campaign rally in the Mexican Southeast region since last weekend.
This morning, she also stated that the current administration has already privatized Pemex and mentioned that the President’s children have turned the company into a private business.
“They turned it into a private business of the President’s children and his godfather, Octavio Romero’s,” accused the candidate, referring to the oil company CEO.
Fair transition for Pemex employees
At the Energy Meeting event, held in Campeche, Galvez Ruiz assured that oil will keep being important for petrochemical industry and, for a time, for gasoline. In addition, she criticized that in the current federal administration an “obsession” with crude oil refining persists.
However, she urged to transit to clean energy, so she spoke out for a fair transition for Pemex employees in this process.
“[A] fair transition is required that allows Pemex employees to adapt to new technologies so that they do not lose their jobs,” she said.
The candidate also expressed that it is necessary for the state-run oil company to bet on other markets to be able to emerge out of its financial problems.
“[You have to] understand that they also have to bet on new markets that allow them to get this company afloat,” she declared.
Galvez Ruiz is on a rally in the states of Campeche and Yucatán.
Yesterday, in Ciudad del Carmen, the presidential candidate reaffirmed her commitment to promoting the transition from fossil fuels to clean energy, in order to contribute to the fight against climate change.
She also considered that an energy transition must also ensure that the inequality gap that persists in Mexico is closed.
“A just transition means that no family will lose its income, that workers will receive support and training so that they keep being actors in the energy sector,” she considered.