Opinion: Why you can’t blame the Pemex oil fire on capitalism
The fire in the Ku-Maloob-Zaap field in the Gulf of Mexico spurred tons of memes and comments about the failures of capitalism. The pipeline belonged to a nationalized state monopoly. Graphic by Cristobal Spielmann.
By Cristobal Spielmann
If you’ve been on social media lately, you’ve likely seen the striking image of a massive, hellish oil fire burning on the surface of the ocean. The fire began on July 2 as the result of a pipeline leak in the Ku-Maloob-Zaap (KMZ) offshore oil field in the Gulf of Mexico before being extinguished over 17 hours later. The KMZ field has been the major producer of Mexico’s crude oil since 2009, contributing to 46% of its national production, according to a column in the online Mexican news magazine&nbs...