U.S. rebuffs Mexico’s request for aid in spyware inquiry

MEXICO CITY — U.S. officials have rebuffed repeated requests from Mexico to help investigate the use of government spying technology against innocent civilians, wary that Mexico wants to use the United States as cover in a sham inquiry, senior U.S. officials say.

The Mexican government has been on the defensive for months, battling revelations that surveillance technology it acquired has been used to spy on some of the nation’s most prominent human rights lawyers, academics and journalists.

Days after The New York Times revealed the extensive spying campaign, Mexico’s president, Enrique Peña Nieto, acknowledged that the government had purchased the spying technology. He quickly ordered a federal investigation into any misuse, and Mexican officials said they would ask the FBI for help.

But after reviewing the request, U.S. officials decided not to get involved, leery that the Mexican government had little interest in actually solving the case because a serious investigation might implicate some of its most powerful figures, senior U.S. officials said.

The spying technology, developed by an Israeli cyberarms manufacturer, is sold only to governments and under the explicit condition that it be used only to track terrorists and other criminals.