MEXICO CITY, Mexico – Mexico has asked the United States to provide “broad information” about a report that it was among Latin American nations targeted by US electronic espionage, the foreign ministry said Tuesday, July 9.
The Brazilian newspaper O Globo, citing documents leaked by fugitive former US intelligence agency contractor Edward Snowden, reported that the National Security Agency lifted data related to energy and drugs in neighboring Mexico.
“Following the information published today, the Mexican government reiterated to the US government, through diplomatic channels, its demand for broad information on this matter,” a foreign ministry spokesman told AFP.
The newspaper reported that another key US ally in the region, Colombia, was the NSA’s other main target of espionage over the past five years after Brazil and Mexico.
Mexico and the United States have worked closely in the battle against drug trafficking in recent years, with the US government earmarking $1.9 billion in law enforcement training and equipment.
The reported snooping on the energy sector comes as the government of President Enrique Peña Nieto mulls a reform aimed at attracting more private investment in the state-run oil monopoly Pemex.
“Relations between countries are conducted with respect and adherence to the legal framework,” the foreign ministry said, adding that Mexico “strongly condemns any deviation from this practice.”
The Mexican government had already sought “direct contact” with Washington last month after a report in London’s The Guardian newspaper that it was among 38 embassies and missions that were spied on by US intelligence services. – Rappler.com
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