Mexican Senate endorses reform limiting the presence of U.S. agents

The Mexican Senate on Wednesday approved a reform of the National Security Act that limits the presence of foreign agents, including from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

With 71 votes in favour, 21 against and one abstention, the senators endorsed the initiative of the president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, which will limit the operations of all foreign security agents, but with particular repercussions for those from the United States.

"Although the initiative, the modification and the reform we are discussing is not directed at any country or any agency, the mere fact of proposing it, we cannot deny, has generated important discussions on its implications for the bilateral relationship with the United States", said Senator Ricardo Monreal.

The reform establishes the obligation of foreign agents to "bring to the attention of the Mexican authorities the information that they obtain in the exercise of their functions" before "the corresponding authorities. It also eliminates "immunity in case of committing crimes or infractions". It also defines for the first time what a foreign agent is, establishes a regulatory framework and stipulates that they must request authorization to enter Mexican territory. Furthermore, it limits their work "only to the development of liaison activities for the exchange of information with Mexican authorities".

Monreal, leader of the governing National Regeneration Movement (Morena) in the Senate, said that there are agents from the DEA, the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Marshals Service and the FBI in Mexico, but their actions are not known precisely because of the lack of a legal framework.

"The presence of these and other agencies in Mexico is known and is also important, but it is also known that on many occasions they have acted in an unregulated manner, and have exceeded their authority," she said.

The reform is an attempt by President López Obrador to reaffirm his security sovereignty vis-à-vis the United States. The pro-government senators replied to the criticism that the leftist leader has made of operations like "Fast and Furious," a 2009 U.S. operation that involved bringing weapons into Mexico to track down drug traffickers. "It's enough that Mexico always puts up the dead," exclaimed Senator Miguel Ángel Lucatero of the leftist Workers' Party (PT).

But the initiative has also aroused suspicion because it follows bilateral tension over the case of former Mexican army chief Salvador Cienfuegos, who was arrested on 15 October in Los Angeles following a DEA investigation that Washington did not share with Mr López Obrador's government.

Following Mr López Obrador's complaint, who has boasted of his relationship with President Donald Trump, on 17 November the US Department of Justice agreed to drop the charges against him and return him to Mexico.

"The proposal, far from protecting national sovereignty, weakens it, as it could also weaken the fight against organised crime," argued Senator Ismael García Cabeza de Vaca of the opposition National Action Party (PAN). 

The right-wing legislators of the PAN voted against the reform, believing it would weaken Mexico's relationship with the United States. "It is questionable whether we can establish obligations unilaterally through a national law and not through a bilateral agreement or treaty," Senator Guadalupe Murguía warned.