the inability of a commercial lease under Mexican law to be used as a basis for project financ-
ing. Part of the problem was that the CFE is a large enterprise, and in the past the people
responsible for planning power projects were not the same as those responsible for financing.
As a result of what the CFE learned from the Samalayuca II project, bid specifications for
later projects were better thought out and more attuned to the requirements of international
project financing.
The Samalayuca II project financing illustrates how the Latin American region is a sub-
stantially different kind of a place to do business in than it had been 10 to 15 years before.
Blaylock noted that the whole region is moving toward private capital rather than government
financing for power, water systems, ports and other types of infrastructure projects.
(^1) This case study is based on interviews with Brandon A. Blaylock, Managing Director, International Business and
Venture Development, GE Capital Services Structured Finance Group, Inc.; and Ana Demel, Partner, Cleary,
Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton.
SAMALAYUCA II, MEXICO