US gave Mexico government a list of Russian spies. Mexico let them stay

MEXICO CITY: When a US general publicly declared that Mexico was a haven for Russian spies, Mexico’s president at the time dismissed it outright. “We don’t have information on this,” President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador told reporters the next day, in March 2022.That was not true.His aides had repeatedly heard from Washington about the increase in Russia’s covert activities in Mexico, according to nine current and former US and Mexican officials. In fact, Lopez Obrador had been told about the problem directly. The CIA had even compiled a list of over two dozen Russian spies posing as diplomats, but Mexican officials refused to kick them out of the country.The US did secure a major promise from Mexico in 2023: Under pressure, Mexico agreed to let US officials weigh in on Russians applying for diplomatic credentials, and they have rejected some of them. But even after a new president took office in Mexico last fall, Russian spies were not expelled. “Mexican govt did help, but they could have done a lot more,” said a Biden era official. .”Mexico’s proximity to the US and the cover provided by tourism for spies to operate has allowed Moscow to significantly ramp up espionage activities in the country in recent years, US officials say. Russia is also increasing disinformation efforts, especially online, to turn Mexicans against America and Europe, causing British and French officials to raise concerns with Mexico’s foreign ministry, officials said. It is not clear whether the US is still pushing for expulsions under President Trump, whose policy toward Russia has swung between courting and threatening the Kremlin.The US-led push to support Ukraine, officials said, drove the Kremlin’s need for more intelligence on Washington, and some of Russia’s most skilled intelligence agents are now based in Mexico’s capital.Russia’s embassy in Mexico City is one of its largest around the world, with 85 diplomats listed there. In contrast, Mexico has 16 diplomats at its Moscow embassy, according to its foreign ministry. The CIA put together thick files on people stationed at the Russian embassy. But the concerns were dismissed as paranoia.Mexico’s tolerance of Russia, US officials say, may reflect the politics of its governing party, Morena, which has at its core many ardent leftists who are deeply suspicious of the US. Russia has openly courted countries in the region, too. The Kremlin for years used Brazil as a launchpad for intelligence officers, and used allies such as Cuba and Venezuela as operational hubs. If the US was supporting Ukraine, then Russia had reasoned it would “start messing” with US neighbours, said a former CIA official. “Mexico is the gateway to Latin America, and the Russians know that.”