Mexican Oil Reforms Are Vital on Both Sides of the Border

July 31 (Bloomberg) -- In recent days a coalition ofMexican advocacy groups has been protesting in front ofTelevisa, the country’s largest TV network, to contest thelegitimacy of President-elect Enrique Pena Nieto’s July 1victory.

These protests are the second in a string of suchdemonstrations scheduled before Pena Nieto takes office inDecember. They bode ill for Mexico’s near-term political future,pointing to a rocky transition at a time when the challengesfacing the country are anything but modest. Americans mightassume that tackling the drug trade that has resulted in morethan 47,000 deaths since 2006 would top the agenda. But a strongcase can be made that energy reforms are at least as urgent, forif Mexico can’t stem its sharply deteriorating energy situation,its ability to tackle other systemic problems will be severelycompromised.