With Andrés Manuel López Obrador due to assume the presidency on December 1, trade talks with the United States, which are now in their second month, have entered a tense period as the President-elect’s representative push for him to have the power to manage the privatization process for Mexico’s energy sector. “During an interview in July, Jesús Seade [AMLO's chief trade negotiator] defended what some have characterized as AMLO’s ‘Mexico first’ energy position by arguing that the president-elect was seeking solely to ‘revise’ energy contracts ‘for any cases of corruption.’ He said all current contracts with U.S. companies would ‘absolutely’ be honored but energy deals would be re-examined to ensure ‘that there's nothing illegal.’ ‘Otherwise, no reversal at all,’ he said during the interview. ‘And then moving forward, I think he wants to go slow because at the same time he wants to strengthen the Mexican oil company, PEMEX, and that’s a very natural thing.’
AMLO’s incoming hydrocarbons secretary, Alberto Montoya, said in an April presentation at the Escuela de Formación Política Carlos Ometochtzin that the previous administration’s energy privatization program “amounts to ‘a betrayal of our country’ and the conversion of Mexico into an ‘economic colony’ of the United States. (…) Asked by an audience member whether he thought Mexico could realistically undo the reforms, Montoya replied, ‘We not only can, but we must,’ adding, ‘this is not an option.’”