Mexican President Andres Manuel López Obrador speaks at a press conference in Mexico City on December 15, 2020.
Photo: President of Mexico/AFP
- A survey revealed that 15,000 are believed to be more than 50,000 Mexican smartphone numbers. Was selected as a potential surveillance.
- These include figures related to reporters and the inner circle of President Andres Manuel López Obrador.
- Lopez Obrador said that intelligence must only target crimes, not monitor citizens.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Tuesday that the Mexican authorities’ espionage activities are now limited to hunting down criminals after the country found itself in a global surveillance scandal.
He told reporters: “Fight crime and protect citizens, not monitor opponents, political leaders, party leaders, owners of large companies, and churches.”
An international media survey revealed that customers of the Israeli company NSO Group are believed to have selected more than 50,000 Mexican smartphone numbers for potential surveillance, including 15,000 Mexican smartphone numbers.
These include figures related to 25 journalists and even related to the inner circle of Lopez Obrador before he took office.
According to the Mexican news site Aristegui Noticias, Lopez Obrador’s wife, children, brother and even his cardiologist were selected as possible targets for the use of Pegasus malware between 2016 and 2017.
Read also | “You are not paranoid”: Mexico is at the heart of the spyware scandal
At the time, he was the opposition leader and political opponent of then President Enrique Pena Nieto.
The left-wing leader claims that he has been under surveillance since the 1970s, including government surveillance by former President Carlos Salinas de Gortari (1988-1994).
He said that “no one is being monitored anymore”. He does not believe that the current NSO contract with anyone in Mexico exists, but if it does, “it must be cancelled.”
According to the Pegasus project investigation, the Mexican agencies that obtained spyware include the Ministry of National Defense, the Office of the Attorney General, and the National Security Intelligence Agency.
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