Mexico buys corn futures to ensure tortilla prices remain flat

By Sara Miller Llana Sara Miller Llana – Fri Dec 24, 1:01 pm ET

Mexico City – In 2007, massive impromptu street protests threatened the popularity of Mexican President Felipe Calderón. But it was not drug violence or kidnappings that prompted the outcry. It was the price of corn tortillas.

Now the Calderón administration faces a repeat scenario. High corn prices are threatening to put Mexico’s staple out of reach for those who depend on it most for the bulk of their daily caloric intake.

Earlier this month, tortilla makers said that prices could rise by 50 percent. An increase of the same amount led to the so-called “tortilla riotsâ€