By George W. Grayson
Conspiracy theorists are having a field day alleging that sabotage sparked the explosion of the Pemex headquarters in downtown Mexico City. The catastrophe, which occurred mid-afternoon on January 31, has taken at least 32 lives and injured 101 others. While not ruling out any causes, Pemex Director General Emilio Lozoya Austín, who quickly returned to the capital from a trip to Korea, downplayed—but did not dismiss—the possibility of foul play. A spokesman for the state oil monopoly attributed the blast to malfunctioning electrical and air-conditioning equipment. In addition to Lozoya, President Enrique Peña Nieto, Government Secretary Miguel Osorio Chong, and Energy Secretary Pedro Joaquín Coldwell immediately visited the site and sought to comfort those hospitalized. The Permanent Commission of Congress held a minute of silence to show respect for the victims.
What affect will the tragedy have on the new administration’s plans to reform aspects of the 75-year old firm—renowned for corruption, inefficiency, and feather-bedding—is not yet clear. So far politicians have offered their condolences without tipping their hands on forthcoming legislation.
The multiple deaths and injuries will make it difficult for Senator Carlos Romero Deschamps, head of the petroleum workers’ union, to oppose revamping the company. He, better than anyone, realizes that old structures, faulty maintenance, and an indifference to safety puts members at risk. After all, Pemex suffered the death of 30 workers at a gas distribution center fire in Reynosa, across from McAllen, Texas, last September 18. A fireball from an illegally tapped pipeline in Puebla took the lives of 28 civilians, including 13 children, in 2010.
Romero Deschamps’ backing of root-and-branch changes will help solidify support for reforms within the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), as well as that of the Ecological Green Party of Mexico (PVEM). Provided there are openings for the private sector in any legislation, the National Action Party (PAN) should throw its collective weight behind the initiative.
Some leftist congressmen may join the effort; however, they might well be taunted as “traitors” by Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the messianic, populist leader of the National Resurgence Movement (MORENA), a mishmash of disgruntled leftists he recently organized into a political party.
Overall, making political calculations at a time of national mourning is distasteful. Yet, after the smoke dissipates, President Peña Nieto is more likely to accomplish a robust reform than before the crisis. As the firm’s chief, Lozoya Austín assured reporters, “Pemex is going to emerge stronger from the blow. And it will project the best face of Mexico.”
George W. Grayson is the Class of 1938 Professor of Government at the College of William and Mary and a senior associate with the CSIS Americas Program. He can be contacted at gwgray@wm.edu.
Photo Credit: JEDIKNIGHT1970, Wikimedia Commons