Given that the prison sentence for rape is only six to 10 years in Mexico, handing down a sentence of between 15 and 25 years for oil theft might strike some as somewhat disproportionate. But this is precisely what will happen shortly, after the federal congress opted in mid-December 2015 to approve legislation amending the penal code to stiffen the penalty for oil theft. The decision to raise the prison sentence in this way is eye-catching because it demonstrates, on the one hand, just how seriously the federal government led by President Enrique Peña Nieto is taking oil theft and, on the other hand, just how ineffective measures taken so far by both the government and the state-controlled oil firm, Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex), have been in clamping down on it. End of preview - This article contains approximately 1018 words.
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