Mexico calls alleged U.S. spying on Calderon ‘unacceptable’

MEXICO CITY,  (Reuters) – Mexico scolded the United States yesterday over new allegations of spying after a German magazine reported that the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) had hacked Felipe Calderon’s public email account while he was president.

Weekly Der Spiegel said in May 2010, an NSA division known as “Tailored Access Operations” reported it had gained access to then-president Calderon’s email account, and turned his office into a “lucrative” source of information.

It said details of the alleged NSA hacking of Calderon’s account were contained in a document leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. Snowden’s leaked information has prompted angry recriminations against Washington in Latin America, particularly Brazil.

According to Der Spiegel, the NSA succeeded in hacking a central server in the network of the Mexican presidency that was also used by other members of Calderon’s cabinet, yielding a trove of information on diplomatic and economic matters.

Without citing by name the German report, which was picked up by a number of Mexican media, the Mexican foreign ministry condemned the latest allegations about “suspected acts of spying carried out by the National Security Agency.”

“This practice is unacceptable, illegal and against Mexican and international law,” the ministry said in a statement.