Russian intelligence agencies are increasing their presence in Mexico to conduct espionage operations against the United States, a return to Cold War tactics, NBC News reported, citing U.S. officials and former intelligence officers.
It should be noted that in recent years Moscow has increased the staff of its embassy in Mexico City by dozens, even though its business ties with that country are limited. The trend is worrying, say American officials. They believe the staff increase is aimed at supporting the Kremlin’s intelligence operations against the United States and its propaganda efforts to undermine Washington and Ukraine.
The Biden administration has raised the issue with the Mexican government, a U.S. official told NBC News.
“Russia has really invested in Mexico in terms of wanting to expand its presence.” – said.
In early September, the head of the CIA William Burns He said his department and the U.S. government are “intensely focused” on expanding Russia’s presence in Mexico, which he said is partly the result of the expulsion of Russian spies from foreign capitals after the launch of a special operation in Ukraine.
“Part of this is because a lot of Russian intelligence officers have been expelled from Europe… So they are looking for places to go and places where they can work. But we are very focused on this.” Burns said in London when asked about alleged Russian spying from Mexico.
Russia is using sabotage and sabotage attempts in Europe, assassination plots, relentless cyberattacks and large-scale global disinformation campaigns to achieve its goals, U.S. and European officials say.
Air Force General Glen VanHerckhead of the US Northern Command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee in March 2022 that the Russian military intelligence service GRU has a massive presence in Mexico.
“I would like to point out that the majority of GRU employees worldwide are now located in Mexico.” VanHerck said.
According John Cipherwho worked in the CIA secret service for 28 years, Russia has always invited Americans who are willing to work for Moscow to go to Mexico.
“For decades, if Americans volunteered to spy for Moscow, they were advised to go to Mexico City. The environment for Russian intelligence in the United States is challenging,” Cypher said.
Unlike in the United States, where Russian intelligence is under FBI scrutiny and consulates are closed, Mexico offers Moscow an easy, lower-risk environment to monitor American agents and conduct other operations, former intelligence officials say.
“This is a very favorable environment for the Russians to operate in. That makes a lot of sense, and that’s why the Russians are there in such large numbers,” said Douglas London, a retired senior CIA officer and author of the memoir “The Recruiter.”
He believes the Russians will likely be willing to use Mexico’s proximity, but relative safety beyond the reach of U.S. law enforcement, to support both American agents and Russian officials operating under “deep cover” in the United States.
An American agent working for Russian intelligence could travel back and forth across the U.S.-Mexico border and meet with Russian agents, other former CIA officials in London said.
Russian intelligence could also take advantage of Mexico’s proximity to target Putin’s political enemies in the United States, they said. Part of the GRU’s mandate is to prepare for potential sabotage operations in the event of war with the United States, and Mexico would be a practical base for such contingency plans, the former intelligence officials said.
