Energy sector reforms face scrutiny in Honduras and Mexico

In Honduras, Gabriela Castellanos, executive director of the National Anticorruption Council (CNA), has warned against the risks of the proposed reforms to the National Electric Energy Company (ENEE). She argued that the state utility's crisis is not merely financial but structural, resulting from decades of corruption and administrative inefficiency. Castellanos cautioned that modernization efforts must not serve as a pretext to transfer strategic benefits to private interests or elites.

In Mexico, Ariadna Montiel Reyes, president of the Morena party, accused the PRI and PAN of creating the regulatory framework that enabled ‘huachicol fiscal’ (tax fuel smuggling). Montiel stated that energy reforms passed in 2008 and 2013 allowed private companies to import hydrocarbons, a practice she claims was exploited for irregular fuel entry and tax evasion. She noted that over 1,370 import permits were granted during the administration of Enrique Peña Nieto, including to companies linked to political figures.