Mexico’s bill to curb agents goes to leader

MEXICO CITY — The lower house of Mexico’s congress approved a law limiting foreign agents operating in the country and lifting their immunity in a decision that could affect its relationship with the U.S. government, a partner in its fight against drug cartels.

The vote came four days after Attorney General William Barr said the law would hurt cross-border cooperation and benefit cartels and weeks after the arrest of Mexico’s former defense secretary raised tensions between the neighbors and elicited threats from Mexico’s government to halt cooperation.

The 329-98 vote, with 40 abstentions, sends the bill to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador for his signature. The president proposed the law, and the Senate has approved it.

The law requires all foreign agents, from any country, to share all information they gather with Mexican authorities. It would require any Mexican officials they contact to submit a written report to federal authorities.

Barr said Friday the United States is troubled by legislation, noting it “would have the effect of making cooperation between our countries more difficult,” adding: “This would make the citizens of Mexico and the United States less safe.”

“The passage of this legislation can only benefit the violent transnational criminal organizations and other criminals that we are jointly fighting,” Barr wrote.

The bill includes a promise to keep secret any information shared with Mexico. Mexico has relied on U.S. agents to generate much of its intelligence information on drug gangs, but it has history of officials leaking such information and sharing it with drug cartels.

In most countries, the chief Drug Enforcement Administration agent in the country often has full diplomatic immunity.