In recent days, Mexican society has once again reproached the federal government for having fallen into an illegal and democratically reprehensible act: spying on human rights activists and journalists. The Mexican president; Enrique Peña Nieto, has given an apparently innocent answer: I also feel spied!

It is not the first time that our leaders justify themselves under the speech of the innocents. In 2003, President Vicente Fox responded to a Channel 40 poll related to a problem he had with another television company, something very peculiar: and why me?

In any case, the reality is that the questioning of the Federal Government is not a minor issue. It is the violation of the right to privacy, a right that has been defined by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in the cases of Massacre of Ituango vs. Colombia and Tristan Donoso vs. Panama. Therefore, if it becomes true that – with the acquisition of the software known as Pegasus – a “personalized” espionage campaign was started against Human Rights Defenders, anti-corruption activists and journalists, he would have to assume his responsibilities, and it would be useless to do so. innocent.

Of course, the “apparently” innocent answer is not overlooked: I feel spied too! They were true. You have realized that the problem exists. But, if it is already reprehensible that we spy on each other, it is dramatic that the State does that to its citizens. The answer does not justify the problem; rather, it shows that the situation is simply unsustainable. Without a doubt, the “Pegasus” incident only showed that Mexican society slept on a volcano.

There are no official figures on espionage, but there are international observers who have drawn their attention to this matter. For example, in Cyber ​​Security Tendencies in Latin America and Caribbean (Cyber ​​Safety Trend in Latin America and Caribbean) published by the OEA (Organization of American States, in Spanish OEA), it has been recognized that only in Mexico have spent more than $ 3 billion on spy-related cybercrime. The newspaper assures that Mexico was the first country where the virus that stole credit card information (Backdoor.Plotus) was used and from there it spread throughout the world. Furthermore, according to the reference of the Cybercrime Observatory in Latin America, the Mexican spy society. Individuals spy on other individuals, institutions spy on individuals and vice versa; Mexico spies on foreign countries and foreign countries also spy on Mexico. Certainly, in recent years Mexico has become a country of towers and spies. However, the Mexican government forgets that it is its responsibility to protect citizens and not invoke, as it did, that it also feels that it is being spied on. That does not justify the problem, it only proves that the government’s actions had been inadequate to solve it. Facing this stage, there is a double strategy to solve it. On the one hand, if the crime of “Pegaso” is confirmed, so as not to leave it unpunished, on the other hand, a step must be taken to enforce the culture of respect for privacy in Mexican society.