The 2018 election of Andrés Manuel López Obrador as president of Mexico signaled tough times for private sector energy investment south of the U.S. border, as the nationalist wanted to prioritize his country's own state energy companies. Yet, as recent deals show, there is still a need for financing and M&A for existing energy assets. This bodes well for Latin America practices, which are heavy on project finance and on advising extractive industries as they eye leftist leadership in countries such as Colombia.