MEXICO.- State-owned oil giant PEMEX , will not be privatized and the public should be wary of those who seek to "mislead or confuse" this issue, President Enrique Peña Nieto said.

"No one, has even referred to or cited the need for privatization," the president told a gathering of Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), and Mexican Green Party leaders.

Leftist parties alleged recently that the government planned to privatize Pemex, which has a monopoly over the production of crude oil and distribution of gasoline.

The leftist opposition Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), announced plans last weekend to organize a national campaign to protect Pemex.

The PRD is "on red alert" in light of government plans for structural reforms at Pemex, party chairman Jesus Zambrano said.

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