Extractive Policies in Mexico Under López Obrador: Bargains for Whom?

Abstract

Andrés Manuel López Obrador became president of Mexico in December 2018, with a progressive agenda called ``the fourth transformation'' (4T). What roles has his government assigned to the petroleum and mining sectors? What extractive bargains have emerged, under what terms, and for whom? These are the main questions that this chapter seeks to address. This is done by examining the terms of extractivist bargains in Mexico during the first three and a half years of López Obrador's presidency, first on the national level, and then with a focus on three key groups: extractive capital, labour, and directly affected rural communities. On the national level, Mexico's extractivist bargain is characterized in terms of energy sovereignty. López Obrador's extractivist bargain seeks to provide low-cost energy for consumers and industries, lucrative investment opportunities for private-sector firms in mining and petroleum activities, and relatively good-paying jobs for unionized workers in extractive activities. In contrast, while there are programs to channel resource rents for social development in zones of extraction, directly impacted rural communities receive relatively few benefits and pay the brunt of the social and environmental costs of extractive activities. Herein lies one of the central contradictions to the 4T's extractive policies, which are oriented toward accelerating the rates of extracting fossil fuels, metals, and minerals, while applying austerity measures to environmental agencies.