Mexican authorities refused to expel more than two dozen Russian spies identified by the U.S., NYT reports

Mexico rejected U.S. requests to expel more than two dozen Russian intelligence officers operating in the country under diplomatic cover, according to a Dec. 8 report by The New York Times. Since 2022, U.S. officials have repeatedly raised concerns with Mexican authorities, warning that Russia was using the country as a base for intelligence operations targeting the United States.

Russian intelligence activity in Mexico increased sharply after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. According to three U.S. officials, the CIA assembled detailed files on employees at the Russian Embassy in Mexico City, some of whom had previously taken part in Russian intelligence operations in Europe. Concerns about their possible espionage activities were conveyed both to Mexico’s previous president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, and to the current head of state, Claudia Sheinbaum, who took office last fall. Mexican officials dismissed the warnings as paranoia, the report said, telling the Americans that they had either lost the list or never received it. Some argued that the information was too vague to justify any action.

By late 2022, U.S. anxiety about the growing Russian spy network in Mexico had increased to the point that Washington raised the issue directly with Mexico’s foreign minister. Marcelo Ebrard, who held the post at the time, brushed off the concerns, saying it was not a problem, according to the NYT.

In 2023, the U.S. secured some concessions: Mexican officials agreed to take Washington’s views into account when reviewing diplomatic accreditation requests from Russian nationals. Some of those applications were later denied.

It remains unclear whether the U.S. continues to press for the expulsion of suspected Russian spies under President Donald Trump, the newspaper said. Several sources also told the NYT that since 2022, U.S. and European officials have repeatedly observed Russia redeploying intelligence-linked personnel to its diplomatic missions in Mexico after they were expelled from EU countries and the United States.

Russia has long used Mexico as a base for espionage operations — earning it the nickname “the Vienna of Latin America,” the NYT noted. Since 2022, Russian intelligence activity has also intensified in Cuba. As The Insider previously reported, Moscow revived the Soviet-era Lourdes spy center outside Havana, which Vladimir Putin officially closed in 2001.