Mexico's Supreme Court acts aggressively to defend its constitution

once again, the u.s. is being left in the dust by other countries more intent on serving their citizens than propping up business interests and creating an authoritarian, one-party state...

"They don't know what we're made of," [Supreme Court Justice Sergio Salvador Aguirre Anguiano] said. "We're here to fulfill the duty entrusted to us … without political influence upon us, simply according to our convictions, impartially, without raucous talk, just as is laid out in the constitution."

wow...! what a CONCEPT...!

here's what's been going on...

Key rulings by the court have produced a subtle but important shift in Mexico's political landscape. The court has reined in one of the nation's most powerful business interests and is moving against two rogue governors.

[...]

On Thursday, the court agreed to create a committee to investigate the political violence and disorder in the southern state of Oaxaca, ruled by the almost universally reviled Gov. Ulises Ruiz.

On Monday, it's scheduled to begin considering whether it should form a similar panel to investigate Puebla Gov. Mario Marin, absolved by lower courts of abuse-of-power charges in the case of an investigative journalist arrested in his state.

[...]

On June 7, the court used this power to overturn a law that granted huge concessions to the nation's two largest media conglomerates. The legislation was known here as "the Televisa law" because lawyers for that company helped draft it.

Many here saw the law as a massive giveaway to the companies: Among other things, it would have granted both Televisa and TV Azteca 20-year licenses to the airwaves that were easily renewable.

so, why now...?

Analysts say the court is acting because President Felipe Calderón and a divided Congress have failed to move against entrenched interests and corrupt local leaders. Though most of its members were appointed by Mexico's previous two presidents, and all were confirmed by Congress, public outrage has forced the court to act, analysts say.

"The court is stepping up to the plate to fill a worrisome void," said John Ackerman, a law professor at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. Ackerman said the court's recent actions were unprecedented in Mexican history.

well, i'll be dipped... a country that takes its constitution seriously... what won't they think of next...?

note: keep in mind that Felipe Calderón is the u.s.-supported candidate that, in a highly suspect election last july, won over Andrés Manuel López Obrador, an event that i've posted on extensively (here, here, here, here, here, and here)...

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The U.S.-Mexico domestic spying story: does anybody remember Echelon? how about Porter Goss and Bob Barr?

i posted last night and earlier today on the story the la times broke yesterday about the u.s. helping to fund mexico's domestic spying effort...

Mexico is expanding its ability to tap telephone calls and e-mail using money from the U.S. government, a move that underlines how the country's conservative government is increasingly willing to cooperate with the United States on law enforcement.

the follow-up post today was due to not having read the times article as thoroughly as i should have and, on a re-read, i picked up on a couple of important points i had missed the first time...

information collected in either country can end up in any hands that either government should decide to put it in, whether it's inside or outside the country, governmental or private sector...

two, this is yet another way to bypass fisa and the 4th amendment and gain access to the the enormous volume of communications traffic between the united states and mexico...

but, still, the story has been nagging at me all day, and i suddenly remembered why... does anybody remember echelon (pdf)...? i've followed echelon off and on for some years and, given the current u.s. domestic spying issue, and now, with the u.s. helping fund mexico's newly-elected conservative president, felipe calderón, to get on the domestic spying bandwagon, it may be time to pay another visit to one of the scarier programs i've heard about...

i've posted several times on echelon in the past (here, here, and here)... here's a sampling...

first this from echelon watch, a site created by the aclu but no longer maintained...

Echelon is perhaps the most powerful intelligence gathering organization in the world. Several credible reports suggest that this global electronic communications surveillance system presents an extreme threat to the privacy of people all over the world. According to these reports, ECHELON attempts to capture staggering volumes of satellite, microwave, cellular and fiber-optic traffic, including communications to and from North America. This vast quantity of voice and data communications are then processed through sophisticated filtering technologies.

This massive surveillance system apparently operates with little oversight. Moreover, the agencies that purportedly run ECHELON have provided few details as to the legal guidelines for the project. Because of this, there is no way of knowing if ECHELON is being used illegally to spy on private citizens.

Menwith Hill, UK

then this from the aclu, may 2001...

Previous inquiries by the European Parliament have resulted in reports detailing the existence of a surveillance system known as ECHELON, which is led by the NSA in conjunction with its counterpart agencies in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. According to the reports, ECHELON has communications receiving stations all over the world and attempts to capture all satellite, microwave, cellular and fiber-optic communications worldwide, including communications to and from North America. Computers then sort through conversations, faxes and emails searching for keywords and other triggers. Communications that include triggers chosen by the intelligence agencies are transcribed and forwarded for further investigation.

[...]

"It appears that the NSA is engaged in a surveillance system of epic proportions," Steinhardt said. "If these reports are true, ECHELON dwarfs the extensive surveillance of Americans already conducted by the FBI and other domestic law enforcement agencies."

and look who pops up back in 1999...

Following recent revelations in Australia and Canada on the international signals intelligence network known as ECHELON, Reps. Porter Goss and Bob Barr have requested access to National Security Agency files concerning the legality of the surveillance system. On May 13, Barr succeeded in attaching a requirement to the Intelligence Authorization Act that would require the National Security Agency, the CIA and the Justice Department to prepare a report on ECHELON for the Congress within 60 days of its enactment. The report would describe the legal standards employed by elements of the Intelligence Community in conducting signals intelligence activities, including electronic surveillance. This would include systems like ECHELON that eavesdrop on international telecommunications. As Barr explained, Congress

is concerned about the privacy rights for American citizens and whether or not there are constitutional safeguards being circumvented by the manner in which the intelligence agencies are intercepting and/or receiving international communications back from foreign nations that would otherwise be prohibited by the prohibitions and the limitations on the collection of domestic intelligence.

anyway, my point is this... IF echelon has been in existence for quite some time (and it appears as though it has), AND the uk, canada, australia, new zealand, and the u.s. are all in bed together, AND the 4th amendment does not prevent information gathered outside the country from being used inside the u.s., AND these five countries are all trading information, that confirms my suspicion that virtually every electronic transaction that any of us make on any network outside of our own personal control, is available for sniffing AND recording - if pattern analysis warrants kicking out a specific transaction to be further analyzed - and that this has been going on at least since the mid-90s...

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More on joint U.S. and Mexico spying - another way around FISA

some important points i missed last night in my post on the la times article...

• [T]he contract specifications say the system is designed to allow both governments to "disseminate timely and accurate, actionable information to each country's respective federal, state, local, private and international partners."

• [T]he prospect of U.S. involvement in surveillance could be extremely sensitive in Mexico, where the United States historically has been viewed by many as a bullying and intrusive neighbor. U.S. government agents working in Mexico maintain a low profile to spare their government hosts any political fallout.

• Legal experts say that prosecutors with access to Mexican wiretaps could use the information in U.S. courts. U.S. Supreme Court decisions have held that 4th Amendment protections against illegal wiretaps do not apply outside the United States, particularly if the surveillance is conducted by another country, Georgetown University law professor David Cole said.

this tells me several things... one, information collected in either country can end up in any hands that either government should decide to put it in, whether it's inside or outside the country, governmental or private sector... two, this is yet another way to bypass fisa and the 4th amendment and gain access to the the enormous volume of communications traffic between the united states and mexico... and, three, yer goddam right u.s. officials in mexico have to "maintain a low profile..." the mexican people are very fond of americans and love the united states, but they draw a very strong distinction between our people and our government... VERY strong...

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Exporting warrantless spying to Mexico and why Obrador lost the election

amlo (andrés manuel lópez obrador) wouldn't have given the u.s. the time of day on a issue like this... in fact, he probably would have had the u.s. officials who proposed it bodily removed, but i'm sure felipe calderón just rolled over... and, in case anyone had any doubt, THIS is the reason amlo "lost" the mexican presidential election last july (here, here, here, here, here, and here), the reason you can be SURE the u.s. had a hand in his defeat, and WHY the u.s. was so intent on installing a conservative mexican president...

Mexico is expanding its ability to tap telephone calls and e-mail using money from the U.S. government, a move that underlines how the country's conservative government is increasingly willing to cooperate with United States on law enforcement.

The expansion comes as President Felipe Calderon is pushing to amend Mexico's constitution to allow officials to tap phones without a judge's approval in some cases.

Mexican authorities for years have been able to wiretap most telephone conversations and tap into e-mail, but the new $3 million Communications Intercept System being installed by Mexico's Federal Investigative Agency would expand its reach.

The system would allow authorities to track cell-phone users as they travel, according to the contract specifications. It would include extensive storage capacity and allow authorities to identify callers by voice. The system, scheduled to begin operation within the next month, was paid for by the U.S. State Department and sold by Verint Systems Inc., a politically connected company based in Melville, N.Y., that specializes in electronic surveillance.

Documents describing the upgrade suggest that the U.S. government could have access to information derived from the surveillance. Officials of both governments declined to comment on that possibility.

disgusting...

(thanks to talkleft...)

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