President Enrique Peña Nieto ended his three-day state visit to the United Kingdom on Thursday by signing deals designed to pave the way for greater British participation in Mexico’s oil sector.
Specifically, the U.K government will provide Mexican energy firms with a US$1 billion credit line for buying British technology.
While in Aberdeen, Scotland on Thursday, Peña Nieto met with representatives of several companies that specialize in extracting oil from the North Sea. A year after he took office in 2012, he initiated reforms that have opened up the Mexican energy sector to foreign investment. While Mexico is known to have billions of barrels in new potential oil reserves deep beneath the Gulf of Mexico, it lacks experience in deep-water drilling.
The Mexican leader stayed for two nights at Queen Elizabeth II’s Buckingham Palace residence in London.
A state banquet was organized for the president and his wife, former actress Angelica Rivera, after they were taken to the palace in horse-drawn carriages.
On Wednesday, Peña Nieto addressed members of parliament and met with British Prime Minister David Cameron.
Human rights organizations urged British authorities to raise issues about Mexico, including the case of the 43 disappeared students of Guerrero.
Mexican students staged a peaceful protest outside Cameron’s Downing Street office when Peña Nieto arrived to see the prime minister.
Cameron seemed loath to upset the apple cart during a state visit intended to fete the Mexican president. A government spokesperson said that the prime minister “welcomed (Peña Nieto’s) approach and supported UK-Mexico cooperation on policing and justice.”
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, an outspoken critic of the drug war, and British billionaire Richard Branson, were more critical in a joint article in the Guardian.
“As Mexico’s president, Enrique Peña Nieto, visits the U.K., we should remember the estimated 100,000 people killed in Mexico alone since 2006.”
The president’s visit to Britain will help his efforts to boost his international image as he struggles with falling approval ratings and continuing drug violence at home.
The U.K. government has shown extensive interest in Mexico in recent years. Only two state visits are organized a year, yet Mexico was invited despite the fact that President Felipe Calderon was honored as recently as 2009.
The U.K. and Mexican governments have designated 2015 as the Year of the U.K. in Mexico and the Year of Mexico in the U.K. Throughout the year Mexico will host a range of British artistic, educational, scientific and business related events, culminating in the United Kingdom being the invited nation at the Guadalajara International Book Fair in December. Meanwhile, Mexico has prepared a parallel program of events in cities in Great Britain.