Mexican lawmakers pass law change to restrict foreign agents, despite U.S. pressure

Mexico's lower house on Tuesday amended its national security law to restrict the presence of foreign agents on Mexican soil, despite U.S. pressure against the legislation amid concerns it could hamper the work of counter-narcotics agents. The amendment, passed by Mexico's Senate last Wednesday, is widely seen as a broadside against the United States, after weeks of tension with Washington over anti-drug operations.

Mexico's lower house on Tuesday amended its national security law to restrict the presence of foreign agents on Mexican soil, despite U.S. pressure against the legislation amid concerns it could hamper the work of counter-narcotics agents.

The amendment, passed by Mexico's Senate last Wednesday, is widely seen as a broadside against the United States, after weeks of tension with Washington over anti-drug operations. The proposed law does not specifically target the United States. But it was proposed by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador after a diplomatic bust-up over the arrest of former Mexican Defense Minister Salvador Cienfuegos in Los Angeles in October on drug charges.

Lopez Obrador, a leftist nationalist, threatened to review security cooperation with Washington after the arrest, and U.S. prosecutors dropped the charges, pointing to sensitive foreign policy considerations. Guille Alvarado, a lawmaker in Lopez Obrador's left-of-center Morena party, said Mexico was passing the law "in order to protect our sovereignty".

The proposal passed 329-98 in the lower house, with 40 lawmakers abstaining. Lopez Obrador has to sign off on the changes before they become official. It was not immediately clear if the lower house modified the bill. The amendments to the national security law passed by the Senate would force agents working for foreign nations to share information they discover in Mexico, and would strip them of immunity if they commit crimes.

Making foreign agents share information with their Mexican counterparts is likely to concern U.S. officials, who say many Mexican institutions are infiltrated by cartels. Among the more onerous requirements in the bill passed by the Senate, agents' meetings with local officials would have to be approved by a new federal government security committee, and a foreign ministry official would have to be present at those meetings.