Mexico calls US espionage "unacceptable"

MEXICO CITY, Oct 21 (Reuters) Mexico has strongly criticized the United States following new allegations of espionage published by a German magazine, which claimed that the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) hacked into Felipe Calderón's email account while he was Mexican president.

The weekly magazine Der Spiegel reported that, in May 2010, one of the NSA's divisions managed to access the email account of then-President Felipe Calderón and turn the presidential office into a "lucrative" source of information.

Details about the alleged hacking of Calderón's account by the NSA were taken from a document leaked by former agency contractor Edward Snowden, according to the report. The information leaked by Snowden provoked reactions of outrage against Washington in Latin America, mainly from Brazil, which was also a target of US espionage, according to allegations.

The NSA successfully infiltrated a central server on the Mexican Presidency's network, used by several members of Calderón's cabinet, gathering valuable information on diplomatic and economic matters, according to Der Spiegel.

Without directly citing the German report, which was widely replicated in the Mexican media, the Mexican Foreign Ministry condemned on Sunday the recent allegations of "suspicious espionage activities perpetrated by the National Security Agency (of the USA)."

"It is an unacceptable, illegal practice that violates Mexican and international law," the Ministry's statement said.

Mexico is one of the largest trading partners of the US, and the accusation could affect relations at a time when both sides are seeking to improve cooperation on issues such as border security and the fight against organized crime.

The Ministry recalled in the statement that US President Barack Obama, in his most recent meeting with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, who succeeded Calderón in December, claimed to be committed to conducting a "thorough investigation" into those responsible for the alleged espionage.

"In a relationship between neighbors and partners, there is no room for the actions that were allegedly carried out," he added.

Peña Nieto, who according to other reports was also a victim of NSA spying before taking office, had already described the US spying allegations as "unacceptable" in July.

Even so, Mexico, which sends 80 percent of its exports to the U.S., has had a more restrained reaction to the espionage allegations than Brazil.

Last month, President Dilma Rousseff indefinitely postponed a state visit to Washington that was scheduled for October because of revelations that the NSA spied on her communications. Dilma also attacked US espionage in her speech at the opening of the UN General Assembly.

(Reporting by Dave Graham)