Mexico must be more open to international investment if it wishes to remain a viable energy provider, former Mexican president Vicente Fox said at a recent World Affairs Council of Houston event.

"It's absolutely needed. There's no way Mexico's budget can meet the requirements of investment. There's a stubbornness from some people of the opposition in Mexico. They're still back in the politicking of 1936 of the nationalization of the oil."

Even Cuba, a communist, anti-capitalist and anti-American country, is benefiting from private investment in its oil assets, he said. Pemex, the Mexican national oil company, suffers because of a steadfast refusal to accept the benefits of private investment. Non-national ownership of Mexico's natural resources is forbidden by the country's constitution.

Fox contrasted the company's plight with the success of publicly traded Brazilian NOC Petrobras. "Petrobras is much more competitive today than Pemex. Why? Because it privatized all of its net worth. Eighty percent of Petrobras' net worth went into the market. In Brazil, civilians own Petrobras; Mexicans don't (own Pemex). They always say that the oil is yours. Yeah, well where is my part? No one is getting their part, not even enough to invest in education for the poor."

Fox spoke highly of current Mexican president Felipe Calderón, and expects that he will further the economic policies Fox had begun.

Fox was not quiet on U.S. issues either. He warned Americans to remain openhearted about immigrant workers, whom he said build highways that they can't use, and pick fruits and vegetables they can't always afford to eat. "It's not a wall we need to build. Its bridges we have to build-bridges of love and relationships."

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