Límites económicos a la privatización portuaria: el caso mexicano, 1992-1995

This article discusses the arguments used to sustain the existence of limits on the privatization of ports in Mexico, with regard to economic aspects; it does not analyze other organizational, personal, behavioral, or political aspects.The article is divided into four sections. The first offers a short overview of the economic characteristics of the port sector, its importante, location, and main components. The secod describes the nature and content of the reforms, with comments on the previous operational scheme, the main elements of the reform program dealing with decentralization, deregulation, and the sale of activities, and the existing regulatory agencies and mechanisms. The third section describes the areas open to private sector participation at the ports, together with a detailed analysis of each of the arguments used to maintain that it is no longer possibe to continue with the privatization of the integral port administration. It finally offers some closing reflections that return to the evaluation of the previous arguments, legal and institutional aspects, and other features of the ports, with a view to answering the questions asked in the article.