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AMLO Risks His Own Fall as He Tries to Pull Pemex Back From the Brink

Indebted oil giant could drag down Mexico’s ratings: investors
President offers tax breaks in bid to end company’s long slide

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador — Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador
Photographer: Alejandro Cegarra/Bloomberg

By

Eric Martin and

Justin Villamil

March 20, 2019, 12:56 PM UTC

Pemex is personal for Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who grew up in Mexico’s oil heartland at a time when the state company was a source of national pride.

Now that he’s president, the leftist leader has made it a priority to pull Pemex out of a two-decade slump. Investors are worried that the opposite could happen, with the company dragging Lopez Obrador down instead, and the economy with him.