Talleyho, "Maybe things are different other places in Mexico." Bingo! As far as subsidies are concerned, Mexico does not evenly distribute them across the nation and does not evenly withdraw them across the nation. The one region in which Mexico is constantly fiddling with fuel prices and their subsidies is northern Mexico. Why? Because Mexico wants fuel prices more in line with US prices near the border, and Mexico a while back allowed some US retail stations across the border to compete with Mexico retailers; that was the time when Mexico said that the price of fuel would eventually float freely on the open market; however, for that you need competition. The Mexico statement never came true as it continued to give and withdraw subsidies unevenly across the regions.