Although in the official discourse, relations between Mexico and the United States will become "multi-thematic", the reality is that the issue that haunts the team that accompanied the U.S. president on his visit to this country is security, specifically, the creation of a National Intelligence Center, that specialists say is in the hands of amateurs. During the previous administration the doors were opened to the CIA, FBI, DEA and other U.S. intelligence bodies. They had carte blanche. The new government has begun to limit and narrow their access and that has lit the red lights in Washington.
The security cabinet of U.S. President Barack Obama and agents of U.S. intelligence are suspicious and wary regarding the creation and management of the National Intelligence Center (CNI) being forged by the government of Enrique Peña Nieto in order to confront organized crime.
The Mexican government's decision to reduce and limit the role of U.S. intelligence agents in Mexico puts the Obama administration on the defensive and raises questions about the future of bilateral cooperation to counter drug trafficking.
"They are hiding information from us, and the system of exchange of sensitive data on organized crime is frozen," complains a U.S. agent working in Mexico.
"The formal response to our concerns is that [the Peña Nieto government] is reevaluating the entire intelligence system of Mexico. To this we must add the inexperience of Mariana Benitez (Deputy Attorney General for International Affairs in the Attorney General's Office)," says the agent, who spoke to Proceso on condition of anonymity (for fear of reprisals).
"The Deputy Attorney General," he adds, "will coordinate all work with the agencies of my country. It isn't that we doubt her integrity, but ... she doesn't know the process and the management of intelligence information."
The brief working visit of President Obama with Peña Nieto didn't smooth over the rougher edges or resolve doubts about the future of cooperation between the two countries on security and intelligence issues.
In a joint press conference at the National Palace, Peña Nieto said that Obama's visit marked the "relaunch" of the relationship with the United States focused on economic and trade cooperation, making it more "multi-thematic", without taking the issue of security as the spearhead. However, the threat of the limitations of intelligence agencies operating in Mexico did not prevent Obama from insisting on clarifying his government's position:
In a joint press conference at the National Palace, Peña Nieto said that Obama's visit marked the "relaunch" of the relationship with the United States focused on economic and trade cooperation, making it more "multi-thematic", without taking the issue of security as the spearhead. However, the threat of the limitations of intelligence agencies operating in Mexico did not prevent Obama from insisting on clarifying his government's position:
"I agreed on continuing our close cooperation in security, even if the nature of it is evolving. I told the President (Peña Nieto) that obviously it is a prerogative of the Mexican people to determine their security structures," he said.In an interview with Proceso, a White House official pointed out:
"We are aware that the new Mexican government needs to make changes, but we need to be aware of them. The exchange of intelligence information cannot and must not be restricted, even less so regarding an issue as sensitive as the dismantling of the structures of drug trafficking."
According to the U.S. agent who spoke with this publication, Peña Nieto's decision to restrict access that was granted during the presidency of Felipe Calderón to all intelligence agencies in Washington may be counterproductive to the interests and national security objectives of both countries.
"We're not doing anything together. We are told that we must wait until after the full security assessment and the design of the CNI is finished. But what they cannot do is put a person in charge of coordination like the Deputy Attorney General, who has no experience in it. There is no confidence," he says.
The CNI, which will be under the direct and exclusive control of the Secretary of Government Relations [SEGOB], will have at its core the the Center for Investigation and National Security (CISEN). What gets the attention of Obama's security cabinet is that all the work plans being developed are copies of work carried out by U.S. agencies like the CIA, DEA, FBI and Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), among others.
As revealed by Proceso in January, the Secretariat of Government Relations decided to remove the U.S. intelligence agencies from the so-called Binational Offices of Intelligence (OBI) in Mexico City and in Escobedo, Nuevo León.
The OBI are espionage centers led by the United States. The one in Mexico City is managed by the CIA, the DEA, the FBI, the DIA, the National Reconnaissance Office, the National Security Agency (NSA), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Coast Guard Intelligence, the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Office of Intelligence on Terrorism and Financial Affairs.
As revealed by Proceso in January, the Secretariat of Government Relations decided to remove the U.S. intelligence agencies from the so-called Binational Offices of Intelligence (OBI) in Mexico City and in Escobedo, Nuevo León.
The OBI are espionage centers led by the United States. The one in Mexico City is managed by the CIA, the DEA, the FBI, the DIA, the National Reconnaissance Office, the National Security Agency (NSA), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Coast Guard Intelligence, the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Office of Intelligence on Terrorism and Financial Affairs.
These same agencies were also located in the OBI of Escobedo, but in this specific case the office did not function because the Secretariats of National Defense (Army) and the Navy were opposed to subordinating themselves to U.S. agents.
(Excerpt from a report published in the current print issue of Proceso) Spanish original