Former Mexican president Felipe Calderon was also part of the espionage by the United States National Security Agency (NSA) according to German magazine Der Spiegel.
A few weeks ago it was revealed that the United States spied on Mexico and Brazil. A big controversy was generated and the response by both nations was quite different. Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto was a target of the espionage ever since he was a presidential candidate. Sources close to the United States government have declared that he was doubted as a capable president especially being part of a political party closely associated with corruption throughout the years.
Today the name of the former President Felipe Calderon was added to the list of victims of the US espionage. It is curious that Calderon who worked so close with Washington was still a target. These new details were also given by the informer Edward Snowden who claims that the United States government accessed Calderon's email as well as that of his cabinet members; in search of financial, diplomatic, and security information. The operation took place in May of 2010 and was labeled as "Flatliquid" and was carried out from San Antonio, Texas as well as the U.S. embassies in Mexico and Brazil.
Another operation also took place which was called "Whitetamale" and it focused on members of the Secretaria de Seguridad Publica (Public Security Secretary) to get information on the security strategy used during Felipe Calderon's presidential term. Some of the more important information obtained had to do with drug trafficking, leadership, economic stability, military capabilities, human rights, and commercial relationships.
On the espionage done on current Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, Der Spiegel also revealed new information. They added that during the summer of 2012 during a two week period the Americans spied Peña Nieto's cell phone as well as his closest collaborators. Including in the information obtained were 85,489 text messages.
Will this be the moment that Mexico responds in a stronger way? Today Mexico is one of the biggest commercials partners of the United States, another option would be to implement cybernetic measures.
During the month of September when the espionage on Mexico and Brazil was revealed both nations opted to talking to the ambassadors and requesting information through their respective foreign affairs departments. Brazil though went beyond the normal protocol.
Dilma Rousseff the Brazilian President canceled her visit to the United States and denounced Barack Obama's government for violating the sovereignty of her country and has dedicated herself to protecting her citizen's information from the eyes of the United States. She has also started to promote a set of new laws, today Brazil finds itself on the verge of implementing it's own internet and email system. For now she has stated that the first to use the new system will be the members of the federal government, she has also invited private businesses to form part of the new system. It is estimated that this new system will go live at the start of 2014.
Through her Twitter account Rousseff expressed "This is the first step to ensure the privacy of official messages". The espionage on Brazil was focused on economic data like nickel, gold, petroleum, manganese, and bauxite. It has also been speculated that the Brazilian government could implement a free email service for it's citizens through an official server.
Will it be now that Mexico responds differently? Following Der Spiegel release of the new information Felipe Calderon, Enrique Peña Nieto or any Mexican government officials have issued any statements.
brenda.colon@sandiegored.com
jonny.rico@sandiegored.com
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