A Playground for International Spies

Throughout contemporary history, Mexico has been a key global player because of its natural resources, economic weight, relative sway in international organizations, geography and, most important, its proximity to the United States.

Because of this closeness, both the U.S. government and rival foreign powers have a history of  significant defensive and offensive espionage operations in the country.

The list is long.

In 1917, for example, Germany sent a not so secret telegram to the Mexican government proposing to join forces against the United States during the World War I in exchange for potentially regaining the lost territories of Texas, Arizona and New Mexico. 

In the 1940s, German actress and alleged spy Hilde Krüger seduced members of the Mexican elites (several top politicians among them) to reportedly help the Nazis gain access to oil supplies.

In the 1950s, 60s, 70s and 80s, the espionage activities by the United States and the Soviet Union in Mexico paved the way for all kinds of conspiracy theories and future revelations, from Lee Harvey Oswald visiting the Cuban Embassy in Mexico City prior to assassinating President John F. Kennedy, to declassified documents claiming several Mexican presidents were on the CIA payroll.

In the late 90s and early 2000s, espionage turned to the drug war and the war on terror, as cartels started posing a national security threat and some U.S. politicians began citing the possibility of radical Islamist groups infiltrating the United States through the southern border.

Present day, there is evidence Mexico is yet again a playground for spies of a new Cold War involving the usual suspects, as well as China and a series of smaller countries and organizations pursuing their respective agendas. 

It’s important to note here that it’s very hard to offer indisputable evidence that current espionage operatives and operations indeed exist and occur. After all, these practices take place in the dark and seek to remain there. That said, every now and then, there are glimmers that show the tip of what appears to be an iceberg.

Jorge Tello Peón, a Mexican security expert and former intelligence official, confirmed to me in an interview that Mexico has always attracted spies from all over the world because of its closeness to the United States. According to Tello Peón, one of the architects of CISEN, Mexico’s early version of the CIA, the country used to flirt with both the United States and the Soviet Union back in the day. However, when push came to shove, Mexico would always side with Uncle Sam.  

Nonetheless, rivals have always studied the often complicated U.S.-Mexico relationship and take notice whenever tensions flare.

A 2023 Wall Street Journal piece by columnist Mary Anastasia O’Grady claims Russia has been actively weaving a “shadowy spy network” in Mexico and Latin America to undermine U.S. interests in the region and propel anti-U.S. sentiments, which continue to stem from past American interventions.

Moscow’s new geopolitical ambitions are no secret. They are evidenced by the annexation of Crimea, the invasion of Ukraine and the country’s efforts to push NATO away from its borders.

Russia has also extended its reach through its interference in the 2016 U.S. election and by attempting to influence nations in the Western Hemisphere (just as the U.S. and its European allies have attempted to influence countries neighboring Russia).

There is plenty of open source material that sheds light on this strategy. Numerous U.S. Senate and Congressional hearings have addressed the subject. In one hearing, a top U.S. general warned government officials that Russia was deploying more intelligence agents in Mexico than anywhere else, a move that could entail all kinds of scenarios, from improving relations with America’s main trading partner to launching operations against a main rival from a close distance.

The recruitment of seemingly trusting nationals also became an issue in 2022, when a lauded Mexican scientist pled guilty to U.S. espionage charges after reportedly being pressured and recruited by Russian intelligence services to gather information on targets inside the United States.

Just last year and in the midst of the war in Ukraine, Russia added 36 new diplomats to its Embassy in Mexico City, which might suggest the alleged deployment of more intelligence agents. These moves, although somewhat shrouded in secrecy, have reportedly coincided with a series of visible efforts to promote Russian state media and pro-Russian political postures in Mexico.

Now, before making too many assumptions, it is also important to note that Mexico has remained open and welcoming at a time where many countries and institutions have adopted xenophobic measures and gestures. These range from banning Russians from representing their nation in sports competitions to conflating Russian citizens with the actions of their government (a kind of “cancellation” if you will that did not occur, for example, when the United States invaded Iraq in 2003).

Be that as it may, the Russian government is no doubt benefitting from Mexico’s neutrality doctrine, the famous foreign policy principle of non-intervention that Mexican politicians often cite as to not take sides in any international conflict.

“It’s a thing when you add 36 new diplomats to the Russian Embassy in Mexico City,” John Feeley, a former top U.S. diplomat who worked in Mexico and throughout Latin America, told me. “The economic, cultural or social relationships between Mexico City and Moscow do not merit such a large increase.”

Furthermore, Mexico’s unwillingness to openly denounce Russia has concerned numerous U.S. officials, including U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar, who asked local legislators to decry the Russian invasion of Ukraine after the Mexican Congress inaugurated a “friendship” working group to discuss and improve Russia-Mexico ties.

A 2015 image of Presidents Vladimir Putin and Enrique Peña Nieto.

China is another big player that is aggressively entering the arena but in much more subtle ways, such as promoting heavy investment and helping companies with ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) participate in massive Mexican government infrastructure projects.

For example, a company connected to the CCP was recently flagged for attempting to sell “scanning equipment” for Mexican border inspection checkpoints, raising alarms of Chinese officials potentially obtaining sensible data regarding trade between the United States and Mexico. In addition, Chinese telecom giant Huawei, a corporation repeatedly accused by Western governments of providing sensitive data to Chinese authorities, has become heavily involved in the Mexican telecommunications landscape, raising similar alarms about geopolitical influence.

Bearing this in mind, it’s important to note Chinese economic ambitions do not necessarily equate espionage.  It’s equally important to recognize that U.S. companies and institutions have had their share of espionage and data leak scandals.

Presidents Xi Jinping and Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Credit: http://us.china-embassy.gov.cn/eng/zgyw/202311/t20231130_11190298.htm

Smaller countries and groups may also be an issue.

The ongoing admission of Cuban doctors to Mexico since the Covid-19 pandemic has raised multiple concerns among analysts who point out the Caribbean island has a long history of embedding intelligence agents and military personnel within these kinds of delegations. Mexican opposition politicians have also accused some of these doctors of lacking medical degrees and certifications.

Equipment and technological tools can also pose problems. 

In recent years, Mexico has reportedly become one of the top users of Pegasus, an Israeli-made hacking tool meant to help state security agencies target high-profile criminals. The software has also been allegedly used to spy on the digital communications of reporters. The NSO group, the firm behind Pegasus, is known to have close ties to Israeli authorities. The latter has raised similar concerns to those of Huawei, the Chinese telecom giant that’s expanding its presence in the Mexican market.

Finally, although the threat of radical Islamist groups operating in Mexico has been largely dismissed as a conservative talking point, there are strong indicators that organizations such as Hezbollah, already operating in South America, have tried to exploit the chaos of the U.S.-Mexico border to infiltrate operatives. Links have also been established between Hezbollah and Latin American organized crime groups.

An expert on the subject of radical islamist terrorism, who asked not to be quoted directly, told me there is no doubt Hezbollah operates in countries like Colombia, Venezuela and Mexico. The terrorist group’s interest lies in weaponizing the drug trade to weaken enemy economies and societies while also using drug profits to buy weapons and recruit people. The expert claims the United States is taking this problem very seriously but is unsure on whether Mexico is paying enough attention.

Mexico’s proximity to the United States is perhaps its greatest security asset in terms of intelligence sharing, collaboration and training. It is also its greatest liability as the United States has too many enemies that could capitalize on weaknesses in its southern neighbor to launch espionage operations and attacks.

Mexico’s national intelligence gathering efforts continue to lack structure and often fail to reach decision makers or are simply ignored. The country’s main intelligence agencies have also gone through several iterations through the years, with incoming presidents restructuring, rebranding and laying off personnel amid domestic spying allegations and a polarized climate.

“The Mexican tradition of frequently reinventing its intelligence and security services every six years has had the unwelcomed effect of politicizing its intelligence corps,” said John Feeley, the  U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission in Mexico from 2009 to 2012, in an interview. “That is in addition to the fact that Mexico’s intelligence services, regardless of their name changes, have been overwhelmingly focused on domestic issues.”

Feeley told me that these two tendencies have resulted in a lack of so-called “spymasters” who can oversee solid institutions and intelligence-gathering for decades at a time.

Continuity aside, Mexico is also failing to prepare for the latest threats. In recent years, for example, it has been hit with dozens of massive cyberattacks.

Numerous institutions like the country’s electoral authority (INE), state-owned oil company Pemex, and even the National Lottery, have either been hacked or suffered embarrassing data leaks. Just last year, thousands of confidential documents from Mexico’s armed forces (SEDENA) were stolen, handed to news sources or published online. The alleged hack dubbed Guacamaya Leaks shed light on the inner-workings of the army, its operations against various organized crime groups and sensible information on President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s health. It is unclear if the incident was a wakeup call for Mexico, as the country continues to lack robust cybersecurity legislation, know-how and internal data controls. 

Mexico has yet to properly shield itself in what has become the newest frontier for espionage and counterespionage. The rise of artificial intelligence coupled with the many problems spurred by social networks also means foreign agencies or entities can easily maximize their interventions and operate in a country no matter the distance. While HUMINT or Human Intelligence remains important, enemies no longer depend on it to steal secrets, launch attacks or wreak the kind of digital havoc that ends up spilling into the physical world.

While Mexican and American security and intelligence institutions continue to work closely together, the larger narrative is causing cracks in the relationship.

In 2020, López Obrador flexed his political muscle to persuade the United States to release former Secretary of Defense, General Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda, who was detained at the Los Angeles International Airport for allegedly protecting cartel leaders. A diplomatic crisis was averted but the incident deteriorated security ties and trust between both nations.

Whether Cienfuegos was guilty or not, the event was viewed mostly as the Mexican commander-in-chief imposing his will on the “gringos,” something that is quite rare in the history of U.S.-Mexico bilateral relations.

López Obrador, who is leaving office and is passing the baton to successor Claudia Sheinbaum, has repeatedly blasted the U.S. government and media outlets as interventionists for allegedly trying to sabotage his administration with what he says are false drug war accusations and reports. He has successfully deflected blame (his enormous popularity helped his party win the 2024 elections by a landslide again) while echoing the anti-American sentiments of many Mexicans, especially those at the left of the political spectrum.

While Mexico has a long history of nationalist presidents publicly decrying the United States while doing Uncle Sam’s bidding in the dark, the Cienfuegos saga was proof something has changed. There are now different interests at play and a new world order.

Bearing this in mind, and regardless of what is publicly said and privately done, the government of President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum would be wise to play all sides. Mexico has a right to seek alliances wherever its national interests may lie and not depend exclusively on the United States, especially at a time where Mexico continues to be bashed by the likely Republican presidential nominee and is threatened with tariffs. However, if Mexico choses to do this, it should do so carefully to avoid a foreign power or entity from using its territory with the sole intent of harming its northern neighbor and historic partner.

“Mexico is capable of having a strategic alliance on security with the United States and also maintain relations with other countries that rival the United States,” Eduardo Guerrero, a former Mexican security official and private security consultant, told me. “We can distance ourselves from the United States, when necessary, but when it comes to security, we should embrace the Americans as our main partners as this is in our best interest to resolve mutual challenges like the drug war and the migration crisis.”

That said, for Mexico to truly play its sovereign and non-intervention cards while acting as a serious and responsible international partner, it must strengthen its own security agencies, promote continuity, all while expanding its counterespionage and intelligence-gathering efforts beyond drug capos and cartels.

As former U.S. diplomat John Feeley highlighted, Mexico is in desperate need of capable spymasters that can both look inwards and outwards.