Outraged Over a Big Hike in Gas Prices, Protesters March in Mexico City David Agren - The Washington Post
go to original January 2, 2017

Hundreds of protesters marched through Mexico City and shut down a petrol station on Sunday, to protest against a 20 percent rise in fuel prices. (Ruptly TV)

Mexican motorists awoke to a shock as gasoline prices at the pump shot up by more than 20 percent in some corners of the country on the first day of the year, sparking panic buying, street protests and even a call by one prominent lawmaker for a “peaceful revolution.”

“If the price of gasoline goes, up we’re going to pay more for everything else,” says Ivn Rosales, an employee at a trucking company, who protested the price hike Sunday at the iconic ngel de la Independencia monument in Mexico City.

“I don’t mind paying gasoline taxes, but where are the services?” Rosales says, pointing to potholes on the street. “Politicians always prefer pocketing the money instead of spending it as they should.”

The hike, the result of the government’s decision to deregulate gas prices, comes as Mexico prepares for an uncertain 2017. The value of the peso has plunged, inflation is rising and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has promised to rip up NAFTA and slap import duties on Mexican-made goods. Regular gas is scheduled to sell for 15.99 pesos per liter in Mexico City (about $2.85 per gallon), though prices will vary across the country.

Even as Mexicans have endured a decade-long drug war, crime, corruption and Trump’s denigrating comments, few issues stir more indignation in the country than “gasolinazos,” as Mexicans call hikes in the government-set gasoline price.

Mexicans have long been used to low prices at the pump. Mexico expropriated the country’s oil industry in 1938 and kicked out foreign oil companies, a move celebrated by Mexicans as a seminal act of sovereignty. Most Mexicans associate its nationalized oil industry with cheap gas.

Read the rest at The Washington Post

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Related: The Zetas Took Over Mexico City Gas Stations and Gave Away Gas and Diesel (The Fulano Forum)

Related: ‘Crisis’ in Puebla, Say Gas Station Owners (Mexico News Daily)

Related: Mexican Drug Cartels Threaten to Blow Up Gas Stations Over Massive Price Hike (OilPrice.com)

Related: Government Step for Gas Prices in Mexico Now Become a Threat for Life (The News Recorder)

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