Ex-President Vicente Fox Defends Mexico's Gas Price Liberalization Elena Toledo - PanAm Post
go to original January 11, 2017

Mexico Seeks to Tame Prices After Gas Protests (teleSUR English)

Mexico’s former president, Vicente Fox, defended the liberalization of fuel prices, arguing that by the end of 2017 “we will be living in a much better situation than we are today,” noting that the free market measure is good public policy and will ultimately benefit the Aztec country, although the benefits may not be seen until the years 2018 and 2019.

Fox expressed his opinions in his weekly Fox Populi program broadcast on Tuesday, asking the public to not merely focus on the current 20% price increase as something “in perpetuity” but as a “turbulence” that is a normal part of the adjustment process in moving from government-controlled prices to a free market.

The PAN party asked Mexicans for patience and understanding in the wake of the price increase, describing it as “the medicine which nobody likes to take.” Fox also recalled that during his government he was unable to complete the energy reform, and that neither Ernesto Zedillo nor Felipe Calderón were able to do so, and thus the gasoline subsidy remained in place for 18 years.

This subsidy cost the Mexican government at least 200 billion Mexican pesos a year (around USD $100 million), making it an extremely expensive means of currying favor with the voting public. Fox emphasized the need to escape from “that trap, this deception” referring to the populist measure.

Read the rest at PanAm Post | Español

Related: As Mexico Struggles with a Down Economy and Corruption, Protesters Take to the Streets (PRI's The World)

Related: Over 1,600 People Arrested for Looting During Gas Hike Protests in Mexico (:Xinhua )

Related: Mexico's Pemex Says Protests Cause 'Critical' Border City Fuel Shortage (Reuters)

Related: Mexican Drivers Flood to California for ‘Gasolinazo’ Relief (Bloomberg)

Related: Running on Fumes: Pandemonium at Mexico’s Gas Pumps (The Daily Beast)

We invite you to add your charity or supporting organizations' news stories and coming events to PVAngels so we can share them with the world. Do it now!