ABSTRACT
The reduction in demand and consequently in the price of oil that began in 1981 was sufficient reason for Mexico to lose her attractiveness to American society. The oil program begun under the government of Lopez Portillo permitted Mexican oil exploration works to be accelerated. The consequent disenchantment has, according to the United States press, contributed to the second most serious problem in Mexican policy at the present: the loss of credibility of the government. During the period from 1976 to 1982, two great moments occurred in the economy of Mexico. The first of these was associated with the discovery of enormous oil deposits and the decision to turn the oil industry into the central axis around which a period of accelerated economic growth was to revolve; the second was related to the drop in the price of oil, the aggravation of financial problems and the unleashing of a severe economic crisis.
