Ernesto Martens was born in a small town close to the Los Tuxtlas Biosphere Reserve in Veracruz.
[1] He did postgraduate studies in the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany and at Harvard Business School in the United States.
[3] During his tenure, he expanded the company’s business from glass bottles into plastic containers, suitcases and washing machines with joint ventures with Ford, Corning, Samsonite and Whirlpool.
[3] In 1994, he became president of the board of Cintra (Corporación Internacional de Transporte Aereo), the entity which ran Mexico’s two state airlines, Aeromexico and Mexicana.
[2] When he became energy secretary, PEMEX faced problems with the inability to refine oil and gas taken from Mexico's deposits, selling mostly crude.