These conservative politicians in Mexico have signed on to policies that have displaced millions of Mexicans and forced them to work here under the constant threat of arrest. Now they want to further rob them by conning them into investing into a company that they plan to hand over to the oil companies anyway (Merida Plan, Plan Mexico).

The article (both the Salon.com and Reuters one) make it sound like the Mexicans are allowed to buy bonds, not equity. So who cares whether or not the company is a laughingstock? As long as they pay their bonds or have adequate assets to cover their liabilities to the bondholders, the company's performance is of little consequence to these investors. The bonds could still be quite attractive investments, particularly if there is an implicit government guarantee.

I feel the need to point out that 5 million pesos is not $474 million. According to the currency converter at xe.com, it's actually more like $477,000.

She is the Energy Minister.

And all this issue is a big IF. Right now the law reform has not been discussed because the left-wing party has seized Congress and the Senate and there's no solution in sight at this time. They argue that issuing such bonds is unconstitutional because PEMEX must be run exclusively by the goverment-- which it has done very poorly since 1938.

If Mexico's oil industry does not go through some major changes, current oil reserves will be gone by 2017.

You can talk all day about peak oil and whatnot but your oil industry is far better than ours.

Missed the part where they said "The initiative would allow citizens to invest in Pemex by purchasing debt bonds whose yields will relate to the monopoly's performance." I would still be curious as to whether or not Mexican citizens would see these bonds as guaranteed by the government, given that they would be issued by the state oil company. But then again, I also don't see why families can't invest the remittances after they receive them if they really wanted, as opposed to by cellpone.

yet another million/billion error, and Kessell is energy minister, not finance. The post has been corrected.