New Scandal May Be Brewing Within Troubled PEMEX

[hatrack]

EDIT

The first signs of a new Pemex scandal appeared following an observation by government auditors during the latter years of the Fox administration. Overseers noted the need for an investigation, starting with Muños Leos, insofar as he committed US$170 million to the Oil Workers’ Union, during the signing of the 2004 collective contract, without legal authority to do so. Moreover, the observation indicated it was money Pemex did not have.

Even before talk of the possible direction the Pemexgate affair between the government, Pemex and the union might take, differences surfaced. At first, in 2000 the investigation centered on the union for supposed improper contributions to the PRI presidential candidate’s campaign, a legal assumption that subsequently involved not just the union, but too Mexico’s electoral institutions and the political party.

The scandal was quickly sparked, mainly due to the political impact of involving Mexico’s firmest political party, the PRI, that at the time still held majorities in Congress and state governorships. As well, involving the PRI was Fox’s biggest mistake during his first months in office. Especially since union leaders were so intimately tied to the PRI, for better or for worse.

The impending scandal will not be about factors of external power or influence over Pemex, nor will it relate directly to political accusations. It will involve issues that by nature are mainly legal and accounting technicalities, that so far at least do not appear to be criminal actions. In other words, this is a situation that leastways will begin as an administrative matter, under the jurisdiction of the Secretariat of Civil Service. All of which means, for the time being those involved can only be public servants. Yet subsequent stages, if factors are revealed that would make it in the best interests of the government to do so, may lead functionaries to undertake new criminal investigations of ex-officials and union leaders. And this would have an obvious economic and social cost for the nation.

EDIT

http://www.mexidata.info/id1365.html