Russia reverts to 1980s tactic using Mexico as spy grounds

You could probably argue that the Cold War has never truly been over. Since it 'ended' with the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, tensions have remains quite high between Russia and the United States, and things have never really tapered off. Russia still continues working to build a nuclear arsenal and help other US enemies in building their own. The US still despises Russia and goes to great lengths to try and contain them. The Cold War is just as 'cold' as ever, if you will.

Back during the peak, Russia once caused a scare by having missiles in Cuba, which created nuclear drills and fear among Americans. It put our number one enemy right on our doorstep. Well, Russia is on our doorstep once again, but not in Cuba. This time, they are in Mexico, using the country that borders our south to finagle their way into spying on America.

Russian intelligence services recently have been building up their presence in Mexico City for espionage operations targeting the United States. It is something they did do in the 1980s, but this time, it is a different ballgame.

National security analyst Ed Turzanski says this give Russia plenty of pathways into getting under our skin.

"They see the opportunity to deal with drug dealers, human traffickers and others who mean to do us harm," he says. "By their standards, anything they can do to hurt us benefits them."

It is a bit of an odd relationship, considering Russia has very limited trade ties to Mexico. But both hate the United States, and that is enough for them to jump aboard.

Mexico and the US have a strained relationship lately, to say the least. The two have gone toe-to-toe over the immigration crisis, with Mexico making outrageous demands of the US that clueless Joe Biden has mostly agreed to. That includes lifting sanctions on Venezuela, from which most of the dangerous illegal immigrants are flooding to the country.

But there is another factor in play: drugs. We have a fentanyl epidemic in America, and that is another bit of ammunition for the Russians.

"They are going to be very interested in all the players involved in bringing large numbers of people to the United States, and everything that flows through the border...specifically, drugs," he says. "The Mexican government will do what is in their best interests, and not care much what we have to say about it."

But there is more Russia gets out of it. They get a chance to plant their own operatives, and recruit them, just a few hundred miles from our border. They can send them in, gather information, then tell Russian officials exactly how our society is feeling, what the situation is like, and where the blind spots are located.

Meanwhile, the US has struggled in recent years to gather assets in countries like Mexico because of our poor track record under Biden. Specifically, the disasterous 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal.

"Where we have had assets like Afghanistan...when things got hot, we bugged out and left them behind," he says. "That is a message to people in terms of trustworthiness."

Turzanski adds that this is a long con of sorts by Russia and opens the doors for China as well.