Editorial Comment

	Vol. 224 No. 3
THOMAS R. WRIGHT, JR.,  PUBLISHER

Foreign investment could help Mexico tremendously – if only she would allow it. Mexico produced a record 3.177-million bpd of crude in 2002, up 1.6% from the 3.127-million bpd in 2001. According to Raúl Muñoz, Director of Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex), production in 2006 could rise to 4 million bpd. Yet the euphoria over the news about 2002 production data may not last long.

As our Latin American contributor Mayra Rodríguez Valladares reports, analysts not tied to the government believe that, after 2010, production will level off and then start falling steeply. In fact, International Energy Agency data show that Mexican daily consumption will total about 3.5 million bpd by 2030, while production will only be about 2.7 million bpd, forcing the country to become an oil importer.

The Mexican congress authorized an additional $4 billion this year to invest in expanding production. Yet, without outside investment, these funds will not be sufficient to keep up with the country’s growing energy needs, especially from power plants. The Mexican constitution continues to severely restrict foreign investment.

Not only does Pemex need foreign investment, it still needs to eliminate corruption. It continues to lose about $1 billion a year due to internal corruption. Fortunately under Muñoz, at least, the company no longer serves as a debit card for politicians.

Last month, PEMEX had planned to offer a group of multiple service contracts for work that would help the company tap natural gas in the Burgos basin. These contracts could be worth billions of dollars to the company and Mexico, and, if awarded, could help enormously, since developing Burgos could yield 1 Bcfd by 2005. Unfortunately, Mexico lacks the necessary rigs and refineries to meet its own natural gas needs. Hence, it imports 25% of its gasoline and 20% of its natural gas from the US. 

It remains to be seen whether Muñoz will succeed. Mexico’s opposition party, PRI remains the largest party in congress and has already been arguing that the contracts are unconstitutional. Also, two major PRI officials are fighting accusations that they stole millions of dollars from Pemex to finance PRI in the 2000 elections. Unless Pemex promises to support these officials, it is unlikely that PRI would support any company efforts to bring in foreign capital.

Where in the world are we? Given the situation between the US and Iraq, we found a recent survey by the National Geographic Society both interesting and incongruous. Despite the possibility (it may be a reality, by the time you read this) that young Americans may have to fight a war in Iraq, most of them don’t even know where that country is. The society surveyed Americans between the age of 18 and 24 – the prime age for military warriors – and found that only about one in seven could find Iraq on a map. The score was the same for Iran.

Even worse – considering the amount of news coverage it has been given – only 17% of young Americans could find Afghanistan on a map. Around 58% of them did know that the Taliban and al Qaeda had been based there. And an astounding 49% could not find New York, and 11% could not find the United States on a map!

The survey asked 56 geographic and current events questions of young people in nine countries and scored the results with traditional grades. The US youngsters got a D, with an average of 23 correct answers. Mexico ranked last with an average score of 21. Topping the scoring was Sweden, with an average of 40, followed by Germany and Italy, each with 38. None of the countries got an A, which required scores of 42 correct answers or better.

Although 81% of the Americans surveyed knew that the Middle East is the world’s largest oil exporter, only 24% could find Saudi Arabia on the map.

Finally, just before going to press, we received one of those ubiquitous emails, which just happens to fit right in with this subject. While we seriously doubt its veracity, it does make for good reading.

It seems that US Secretary of State Colin Powell was recently approached by a reporter representing an Iraqi newspaper. The reporter accusingly asked, “Isn’t it true that only 14% of young Americans can locate Iraq on a map?”

Powell stopped, turned and said, “Yes, it’s true. However, all 14% are in the US military.”

Loser winners. The Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF) in Washington, DC, recently announced the recipients of its 2002 Tarnished Halo awards. Winners included your typical environmental Chicken Littles, celebrity meddlers, trial lawyers and various other self-anointed public interest defenders who know what’s best for the rest of us. All of the winners “are known to use misinformation, duplicity and even violence to further a political agenda or fatten their wallets. 2002 was a banner year for misguided activists, and the field of nominees was unusually rich,” said CCF. Following are just a few:

• Better Dead Than Fed Award – Greenpeace, for pressuring Zambian dictator Levy Mwanawasa to deny his 2.5 million starving people access to US-provided food aid because it contains genetically enhanced corn (he called it poison) that Americans have been getting stuck in their teeth for years.
• Excuse Me, But Your Agenda Is Showing Award – Ingrid Newkirk, president and co-founder of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, for saying PETA’s “nonviolent tactics are not as effective,” and then donated money last year to the North American Earth Liberation Front, which the FBI labels a domestic terrorist group responsible for a crime spree surpassing $40 million.
• Fishing For the Truth Award – National Environmental Trust, for its high-profile campaign to convince chefs to stop serving the endangered Chilean Sea Bass, which, it has been discovered, is not only not threatened, but is not even a bass.
• Most Callous Exploitation of a Tragedy Award – Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who declared US pork farmers a “greater threat than Osama bin Laden” (Mr. Kennedy was addressing the Waterkeeper Alliance, which the CCF says has waged its own war against those who bring the United States’ little porkers to market).