Corruption in the Mexican Energy Industry: Recommendations and Proposals

The Wilson Center's Mexico Institute, the Tec de Monterrey, Transparencia Mexicana, and México Evalúa held an essay competition on anti-corruption proposals for the energy sector in Mexico. Participants had to propose public and private policies to combat corruption in the energy sector, particuarly in the following sectors: electricity, hydrocarbons, and renewable energies. The following essay is one of the finalists. 

This essay explores the efficiency of Mexico’s legal instruments to fight corruption, examining several corruption cases within the state companies Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) and the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE). Further, this work also includes an analysis of the public organs in charge of preventing and punishing corruption in the energy industry. Likewise, the roles and responsibilities of the private sector in the fight against corruption will also be considered with the goal of discovering the risks new investors face as well as to find new public-private cooperation schemes to mitigate and prevent the impact of corruption. The present text will also evaluate why corruption legislation in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada has seen success, comparing these frameworks to the Federal Anticorruption Law for Public Contracts in Mexico (Ley Federal Anticorrupción en Contrataciones Públicas de México). Lastly, using the prior analysis, this paper will issue several public and private policy proposals to ensure that corruption laws are followed while increasing competition within the energy industry.