MEXICO CITY, (Reuters) – Mexico said yesterday it was allowing U.S. spy planes to enter its airspace to track drug smugglers, prompting opposition cries that the government had sold out to Washington.
The Mexican government said use of the unmanned drones was part of stepped-up joint efforts to fight the traffickers, whose conflict with the state has cost more 36,000 lives over the past four years.
Authorities divulged details of the flights following a report in The New York Times on Wednesday that said the aircraft had uncovered information useful to officials investigating the killing of a U.S. customs agent.
Opposition leaders reacted angrily to the news, with former foreign minister Rosario Green calling it outrageous that Mexican national sovereignty had been compromised without the consultation of Congress.
The controversy is a fresh headache for President Felipe Calderon, who has staked his reputation on bringing the drug cartels to heel.
The drug war’s constant bloodletting has left a stain on his administration, and Calderon’s conservative National Action Party is now well behind the main opposition party in opinion polls leading up to next year’s presidential election.
Green, a senator from the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party, told daily Reforma that use of the drones was a “clear violation of Mexican sovereignty” and that the decision was made without consulting lawmakers.
“What else does president Calderon need to do to hand over control of the country? It’s very worrying,” she said.
