Mexico builds a police state

Authoritarian surveillance laws and a weak State make for criminals’ delight.

Imagine if Amazon or Spotify could paint an even clearer picture of your life using your data. Now imagine that, powered by their formidable algorithms—those that know what product you’ll want to buy or what song you’ll love to hear next—had even more data than just your purchases or playlist. In fact, imagine they had access to all your data, public and private records alike. Now, finally, imagine they run your country.

In the dead of night, rushing through unscrutinised and little debated legislation, the Mexican Congress is creating an intelligence apparatus that will look much like this. Their reforms will almost certainly be approved unamended by the ruling-party coalition super-majority.

When they were in opposition, current members of the Mexican government would have declared Mexican democracy dead and buried for far less than this. In fact, they are on record as having been completely against this sort of law when in 2014 they opposed the then government’s reforms which expanded surveillance capacity. They are now expanding far beyond their then-worst nightmares.

It is worth saying it upfront and clearly:

The government of Claudia Sheinbaum is building the apparatus of a police state in Mexico.

The dominance of organised crime in Mexico is the main reason that the surveillance apparatus is being bolstered. It’s not a surprise, given Sheinbaum’s clear desire to focus on intelligence rather than direct military confrontation. Additionally, pressure from the US—cancelling prominent Mexicans’ visas and advocating for military intervention if Mexico can’t sort out cartels—has lit a fire under the government, explaining the rush to get these surveillance measures through.

“No one has ever had access to so much information, in real time, from so many people, with such little oversight,” Luis Fernando García, a lawyer specialised in human rights and technology, told The Mexico Political Economist.

These reforms are not the way to solve crime in Mexico. They may even end up playing right into criminal hands, along with allowing for government overreach and even foreign intervention.

Here’s a breakdown of what these laws will do and they will mean for Mexicans and foreigners alike.