The ''Centro Nacional de Inteligencia'' or CNI, is a Mexican

intelligence agency An intelligence agency is a government agency responsible for the collection, Intelligence analysis, analysis, and exploitation of information in support of law enforcement, national security, military, public safety, and foreign policy obj ...

controlled by the

Secretariat of Security and Civilian Protection The Secretariat of Security and Civilian Protection ( or SSPC) is a cabinet-level agency of the government of Mexico responsible for supervising public safety and security, including the Commission for the Attention of Intentional Homicide, Natio ...

. The CNI replaced the ''Centro de Investigación y Seguridad Nacional'' (CISEN) in December 2018 at the start of the administration of President

Andrés Manuel López Obrador Andrés Manuel López Obrador (; born 13 November 1953), also known by his initials AMLO, is a Mexican former politician, political scientist, public administrator and writer who served as the 65th president of Mexico from 2018 to 2024. He se ...

. The CNI is the primary civilian intelligence service in Mexico. Formally, the agency is charged with intelligence operations as they pertain to national security, which contribute to the preservation of the Mexican State's integrity, stability, and permanence.

History

History of CISEN

CISEN was created on February 13, 1989, replacing the ''Dirección General de Investigación y Seguridad Nacional'' (DGISN), which assumed its role following the dissolution of the Dirección Federal de Seguridad (DFS) and the ''Dirección General de Investigaciones Políticas y Sociales'' (DGIPS). CISEN was the principal

of the

Secretariat of the Interior The Secretariat of the Interior (; SEGOB) is the executive department of the Mexican government concerned with the country's domestic affairs, the presenting of the president's bills to Congress, their publication in the ''Official Journal of ...

(Spanish: Secretaría de Gobernación, SEGOB). The agency was formally charged with generating strategic, tactical, and operative intelligence to ensure the integrity, stability, and permanence of the Mexican state. Article 19 of the National Security Act defined the scope and responsibilities of CISEN. The 1994

Zapatista uprising On 1 January 1994, the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) coordinated a 12-day uprising in the state of Chiapas, Mexico, in protest against the enactment of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The rebels occupied citie ...

in Chiapas played a formative role in shaping the scope of the agency's objectives and lead to a significant increase in intelligence operations against all sectors of Mexican society. From its inception, the agency received training and equipment from the Israeli intelligence agency

Mossad The Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations (), popularly known as Mossad ( , ), is the national intelligence agency of the Israel, State of Israel. It is one of the main entities in the Israeli Intelligence Community, along with M ...

. CISEN acquired the Israeli spyware

Pegasus Pegasus (; ) is a winged horse in Greek mythology, usually depicted as a white stallion. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as horse-god, and foaled by the Gorgon Medusa. Pegasus was the brother of Chrysaor, both born from Medusa's blood w ...

during the presidency of

Enrique Peña Nieto Enrique Peña Nieto (; born 20 July 1966), commonly referred to by his initials EPN, is a Mexican former politician and lawyer who was the 64th president of Mexico from 2012 to 2018. A member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), he p ...

. The spyware was used by the Peña Nieto administration to spy on journalists, human rights activists, and political opponents, including dozens of associates of Andrés Manuel López Obrador in the run-up to his presidential election victory in 2018. Then-Secretary of the Interior Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong publicly denied CISEN's purchase of Pegasus; however, in May 2020 the Secretariat of Security and Civilian Protection (Spanish: Secretaría de Seguridad y Protección Ciudadana, SSPC) confirmed the acquisition of the spyware by CISEN. Before taking office in 2018, President López Obrador had been critical of CISEN's opacity in its operations and practices, which included

wiretapping Wiretapping, also known as wire tapping or telephone tapping, is the monitoring of telephone and Internet-based conversations by a third party, often by covert means. The wire tap received its name because, historically, the monitoring connecti ...

and surveillance of political adversaries and ideological dissidents. This prompted López Obrador to dissolve CISEN and replace the agency with the ''Centro Nacional de Inteligencia'' (CNI). Although mostly regarded as a rebrand (CNI maintains the same faculties, internal structure, and the majority of CISEN personnel), one notable structural change was its placement under the control of the reinstated Secretariat of Security and Civilian Protection. In July 2021, López Obrador announced that all CISEN files would be declassified and made available for public examination at the Archivo General de la Nación.

History of CNI

The ''Centro Nacional de Inteligencia'' (CNI) was created on November 30, 2018, following reforms to the Organic Law of the Federal Public Administration. The agency maintains the functions established for CISEN in Article 19 of the National Security Law. Audomaro Martínez Zapata was named director of the CNI on December 1, 2018.

Directors of CISEN

* (1989–1990): Jorge Carrillo Olea * (1990–1993): Fernando del Villar Moreno * (1993–1994): Eduardo Pontones Chico * (1994–1999): Jorge Enrique Tello Peón * (1999–2000): Alejandro Alegre Rabiela * (2000–2005):

Eduardo Medina-Mora Icaza Eduardo Tomás Medina-Mora Icaza (born 30 January 1957 in Mexico City) is a Mexican lawyer. He served as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Mexico from 10 March 2015 to 8 October 2019, when the Mexican Senate approved his resignation following ...

* (2005–2006): Jaime Domingo López Buitrón (1st term) * (2006–2011): Guillermo Valdés Castellanos * (2011): Alejandro Poiré Romero (temporary) * (2011–2012): Jaime Domingo López Buitrón (2nd term) * (2012–2018): Eugenio Ímaz Gispert * (2018–2019): Alberto Bazbaz

Directors of CNI

* (2019): Audomaro Martínez Zapata

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Centro de Investigacion y Seguridad Nacional (Mexico) Mexican intelligence agencies 1989 establishments in Mexico 2018 establishments in Mexico