Of The New York Times | Maria Abi-Habib
Soldiers on patrol in Celaya, Mexico. (Alejandro Cegarra / The New York Times) President Andrés Manuel López Obrador recognized the hack, saying that “there is nothing to hide”. (Luis Antonio Rojas / The New York Times) A hacker group has infiltrated Mexico’s Ministry of National Defense and released millions of emails detailing the military’s growing influence on civilian government.
A major cyber attack on Mexico’s Ministry of National Defense has revealed many details about the country’s most secretive and powerful institution, documenting its growing influence on civilian government, its attempts to avoid cooperating in a historic human rights investigation. and the use of spyware known as Pegasus to spy on journalists.
The hack details the military’s own internal investigations and suspects that powerful government officials, such as state governors and the current interior minister, are linked to organized crime networks, including drug cartels.
As reporters in Mexico investigate data released by the attack, briefing notes published so far show the military’s growing control over civilian institutions and their close relationship with President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
The Mexican military has a history of human rights violations as well massacres of civilians, and has long resisted supervision and accountability. The leaked emails show, in the military officers’ own words, how the institution maneuvers to bypass the government, take responsibility and protect its members, even at the lowest ranks.
The leaks were published by a hacker group known as Guacamaya and include about six terabytes of data with over four million emails. In a manifesto posted online, the hackers claimed to be an anti-imperialist group seeking to protect the environment. It is not known which country they operate from, but they communicated in Spanish.
This week, López Obrador acknowledged the hacking and claimed that “there is nothing to hide”.
The military did not respond to requests for comment.
Despite warnings from politicians and analysts that the military is becoming too powerful under López Obrador, the Senate voted this week to renew the military’s role as Mexico’s leading institution responsible for public safety. The bill was sent to the president for his signature.
“The Mexican military is known to be the least transparent institution and these leaks come at a critical time as the Mexican government is stepping up the military’s involvement in civilian life and institutions,” said Stephanie Brewer, director of the Mexico at the Washington Office for Latin America, a research institute.
Leaked emails reveal that the military was using Pegasus, an Israeli spyware, to infect the phones of journalists and activists, despite López Obrador’s promises that his government would not use the program to spy on Mexican citizens. The New York Times first revealed it that the previous government used Pegasus to spy on journalists, activists and politicians, a scandal that impacted that administration.
“The power of the military over the institutions is of great concern, as they are receiving more budgetary resources from the government,” Brewer said.
The military has also initiated investigations and created files on current and former government officials and their links to Mexico’s organized crime and powerful drug cartels. The governor of the state of Veracruz, Cuitláhuac García, is said to have ties to a powerful cartel, accusation he denied this week.
In the e-mails released, Defense Ministry officials accuse the current Secretary of the Interior, Adán Augusto López, of granting them high security officials to officials related to organized crime when he served as governor of the state of Tabasco. A ministry spokesperson declined to comment.
Even leaks reveal widespread sexual assaults in the military, with over 300 servicemen accused of harassment and other rights violations, which the high command has kept secret for years.
López Obrador scored a major legislative victory when the Senate voted in September to transfer the National Guard, Mexico’s federal public security force, under the control of the Ministry of National Defense.
Shortly after López Obrador came to power, dissolved the Federal Police in 2019 and created the National Guard, which he promised would remain under civilian control. But this year he announced the plans to join the army.
The expansion of military power also occurred after a government truth commission said so in August the military was involved in the disappearance of 43 students of Ayotzinapaa rural town.
The hack first showed the extent to which the military used its power and connections to protect itself from oversight in the Ayotzinapa case.
An email detailed an appeal from the current Secretary of Defense to President López Obrador, claiming the innocence of a low-ranking captain suspected of missing students. The secretary appeared to support the captain’s refusal to cooperate with the government investigation.
Other Leaked email sent in 2015 he also detailed a high-ranking general’s request to the Secretary of Defense at the time to “avoid digging” inside the military barracks where some of the 43 students may have been taken. What ultimately happened to all the students is a mystery, but it is believed that they are dead and it is not known where their bodies are.
“What the emails exposed are the deliberate actions of the military to avoid civilian scrutiny, even for a low-ranking captain,” said Cecilia Farfán Méndez, a researcher on Mexico’s security issues at the University of California at Los Angeles, San Diego. “They are afraid that if they open the door and allow civilian supervision in one case, it will open the doors in the future.”
The series of hacked emails also describes the expansion of the military into the economy.
Since coming to power in 2018, López Obrador has relied on the military to build most of his gigantic infrastructure projects, totaling approximately $ 45 billionand announced plans to transfer its operations and revenue to the military once completed.
The government paid the military for the construction of a 1,600-kilometer railway track, a international airport and an oil refinery, in contracts that have not yet been made public.
But the economic ambitions of the Ministry of National Defense appear to be greater than previously known. The data leak revealed that the ministry plans to set up a national tourism agency with hotels, parks, museums, and even a national airline run by the military.
“The profits of that company will be used for the pensions of members of the armed forces,” the president said this week, confirming the National Defense Ministry’s foray into the tourism sector. “It is to protect the nation’s assets, because we are doing work with a public budget.”
The growing power of the military has baffled many politicians and analysts, who warn it could lead to further human rights violations. Instead, they called for the creation of a national police force overseen by the civilian government.
By expanding into the country’s economy, experts say, the military could further isolate itself from government oversight because it will no longer need to rely on elected officials to approve annual budgets to stay afloat.
Mexico was a relatively stable nation for decades thanks to the civilian government’s ability to exercise control over the military, which allowed the country to avoid the military-led coups that rocked much of Latin America during that time. period.
But the military was given an outsized role in public safety in 2006, under President Felipe Calderón, when he deployed military forces across the country to fight drug cartels. The role and deployment of the armed forces had to be temporary because the Calderón government established and developed Mexico’s first federal police force, which was supposed to be ultimately responsible for public safety.
The Federal Police was established in 2010 and got off to a rough start, with allegations of human rights abuses and corruption. But, according to analysts, that organization was slowly improving.
In 2019 López Obrador dissolved the Federal Police and created the National Guard, which will now be incorporated into the army.
“Although each government has addressed ways to improve the police, the real concern of this government is that it has abandoned the goal of developing a civilian public security force,” said Farfán.
“Instead, much is being given to the military and the militarization of Mexico is in full swing.”
Oscar Lopez contributed to this report from Mexico City.
Maria Abi-Habib is the head of the office for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. You have written for the New York Times from South Asia and the Middle East. Find her on Twitter: @About_Girl
Cyber warfare and defense policy and government Defense and military forces Human rights and human rights violations Lopez Obrador, Andres Manuel
