Mexico opened up a third round of bidding on Tuesday for 79 private oil companies, both national and international, to exploit the country’s oil reserves. Although the government claims that privatization will spark foreign investment, analysts warn that it is part of an unspoken strategy to dismantle Mexico’s state-run oil company, PEMEX, and hand it over to transnational banks and companies in order to guarantee the energy future of the United States. Nevertheless, adverse conditions in the oil market, including low prices and volatile markets, may cause their plans to backfire. Clayton Conn reports from Mexico for teleSUR