Ex-Mexican President Protests NSA "Spying" on Him

Former Mexican President Felipe Calderón issued an “energetic protest” with his country’s government regarding alleged espionage against him by the National Security Agency (NSA).

“I spoke with the Secretary of Foreign Relations and asked that he send an energetic protest against the spying against me,” tweeted Calderón on Monday.

Calderón further criticized the “attacks against Mexico’s public institutions” after German magazine Der Spiegel claimed the NSA reportedly hacked his public email account while he was president.

“I’ll be attentive to the actions by the Foreign Relations office in seeking explanations from the U.S.,” tweeted the man who was Mexico’s president between 2006 and 2012, and who is now a fellow at Harvard University.

“This practice is unacceptable, illegal and against Mexican and international law,” said Mexico’s foreign affairs office in a statement issued yesterday over the “possible spying”. “In a relationship between neighbors there is no room for these practices to occur,” the communiqué mentioned without specifically naming Der Spiegel’s report.

According a 2010 NSA classified report cited by Der Spiegel, U.S. intelligence was able to tap into an “email domain” used by then-President Calderón as well as members of his cabinet.  As a result, the agency had access to “diplomatic, economic and leadership communications which continue to provide insight into Mexico's political system and internal stability”.  For the NSA, Calderon’s office thus became “a lucrative source.”

The NSA report was the latest document leaked by former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden and comes weeks after he helped reveal the agency’s supposed surveillance of Enrique Peña Nieto during his successful presidential campaign last year. In response to last month’s report, Mexico’s government summoned the U.S. ambassador in Mexico City, Anthony Wayne, for consultations.

Spain’s Calderon: “Racist” photo was a “bad mistake”

Remember the brouhaha caused during the Olympics by the Spanish basketball team’s “racist” photo? At the time, team member and Toronto Raptors player Jose Calderon tried to show contrition by noting that “some of my best friends in Toronto are from China.” Now he has gone a step further in asking for forgiveness:

"It was a mistake, a bad mistake," the Raptor guard said of the picture, which showed members of the Spanish national team pulling back the corners of their eyes. "We weren't meaning to do anything hurtful, I take that like a lesson. ... I wanted to tell the people what I am, I've never had that problem before in my life and it will never happen again."

Calderon sent emails in the last week or so to more than 100 fans who wrote him to say they were hurt by the picture.

"I wrote to the people who really cared about it, the people who emailed me and people who really thought I was saying something bad," he said. "It was a bad mistake, I wanted to tell them."

Calderon’s contrition appears sincere enough since he’s been remorseful ever since the controversy began. Yet as a cynic I cannot help but wonder how if this has anything to do with Spain’s bid for the 2016 Games.

(Hat tip: Deadspin).

Image- Guardian UK

Sources- The Latin Americanist, Deadspin, Torontoist, TheStar.com, Typically Spanish