Six in Ten Mexicans Reject Private Capital in Oil Sector - Economic Survey

Pemex oil platform, Gulf of Mexico (Photo: Claudia Guadarrama)

Milenio: Mariana Otero-Briz

According to a survey conducted by the Center for Economic Research and Teaching (CIDE), one of every two Mexicans would not like to have another nationality, although the majority rejects that the country should be isolated from the rest of the world and supports its opening in all sectors except oil.

Presented yesterday at the Secretariat of Foreign Relations, the survey was conducted via interviews with 2,400 citizens. Survey results specified that six in ten respondents reject private participation in the oil sector.

"In 21st century Mexico, nationalism is not opposed to openness to the world, except in the oil sector. Mexicans show strong and growing feelings of pride, identification and attachment to their nationality, being the primary Mexican policy of community identification and belonging. 

"The high level of national pride is not opposed to cultural and economic openness. With the exception of the oil sector, there is increased support for the dissemination of ideas from other countries in Mexico, such as globalization, free trade and foreign investment," explains the study.

The survey notes that the energy sector remains "the bulwark of economic nationalism", particularly oil. Forty-seven percent of respondents said they continue being against allowing foreign investment in the electricity sector, a figure that rises to 65 percent when respondents were asked about allowing foreign investment in the oil sector.

The analysis details that:

• 52 percent of the population would not like to have another nationality;
• 50 percent identify as part of Latin America;
• 27 percent identify as cosmopolitans;
• 8 percent as North Americans; and
• 7 percent as Central Americans.

The survey was conducted nationwide between August and September of 2012; more than 120 questions were asked about the role of Mexico in the world. This exercise involved 2,400 citizens and 535 opinion leaders from business, academia, government and social organizations, and the media. Spanish original