Mexico’s president denies spying on opposition parties with Pegasus

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador yesterday denied that his government was spying on the opposition, assuring false media reports that the armed forces hacked the cellphones of three people with the controversial Pegasus software.

“It is not true that journalists or opposition figures are being spied on,” assured Mr. López Obrador, addressing representatives of the press. “The army did not engage in espionage (…). What is a fact is (gathering) information to deal with criminals.”

According to reports in recent days, a hacker group dubbed Guacamaya has extracted files from a military database that show it continued to use the Pegasus spyware after Mr. López Obrador took office in 2018, even though the center-left now president has assured that the abuse of such tools did not continue during his days.

The phones of a journalist, columnist and human rights defender were infected by the spyware between 2019 and 2021, according to Mexican privacy rights group R3D, which secured technical support from Citizen Lab, a cybersecurity program at the University of Toronto.

Allegations of Pegasus abuse in Mexico date back to 2017, when the country was ruled by President Enrique Peña Nieto (2012-2018). They returned to the foam in July 2021, following new media revelations.

Mr. López Obrador neither confirmed nor denied when asked whether the Pegasus continues to be used by the intelligence service of the armed forces, but announced that he had ordered a report by the military on the matter.

“We are not the same as the previous (governments). I have made a commitment that no one will be spied on, no member of the opposition,” insisted the head of state, in whose opinion nothing but his political opponents are behind the recent revelations.

RES-EMP

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