The front-runner in Mexico's presidential election, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has called for more energy privatization.
Corruption and political instability in Guatemala threaten to impact its ability to receive international monetary aid.
The loss of oil and gas from Mexican pipelines currently totals more than $1 billion a year, leaving some U.S. companies skittish about entering the market.
Maquila owners say the current version makes it a harder to operate in Mexico compared to the U.S.
Trump's election triggered a rise in nationalism. A populist leftist candidate is channeling that feeling.
Foreign companies have been invited into the energy market, but problems with Pemex deter investment.
Some Mexicans are pressing for the country to be more self-reliant, if the U.S. looks to renegotiate or even withdraw from NAFTA.
For the U.S., peace could expand trade and further economic relations.
A pipeline carrying natural gas to Mexico from Texas will across remote ranches more than a century old.
As people and goods illegally cross the Mexico-Guatemala border, many profit.
