Overview
- President Claudia Sheinbaum said roughly 250 foreign security and intelligence personnel from several countries operate in Mexico after approval by a Security Cabinet committee and must report monthly on their activities.
- Sheinbaum recalled that when U.S. operatives were found working in Chihuahua without authorization, Mexico asked the U.S. embassy to remove them and those individuals left the country.
- Sheinbaum ordered the Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores to evaluate whether Mexico can disclose the nationalities of accredited agents following U.S. State Department claims about Russian spies that Mexico says it has not corroborated.
- The legal framework requires embassy requests to be vetted by the Gabinete de Seguridad and for approved agents to comply with the Constitution and the National Security Law, a system the government says balances cooperation and oversight.
- Monday disclosures by the president signal a push for clearer oversight and could lead to tighter transparency rules for foreign personnel, a change that may affect bilateral security work and the handling of future unauthorized operations.