Russia and Supporters of the Ruling Morena Party Orchestrate Disinformation in Mexico to Fracture the Strategic Alliance with the United States
© Ketanof / Shutterstock
Russia has intensified its efforts to undermine relations between Mexico and the United States through a sophisticated disinformation network that enjoys the unwitting —or perhaps complicit— support of sectors aligned with the ruling party Morena.
This revelation, contained in a confidential cable from the United States Embassy in Mexico obtained by The New York Times, exposes how Russian state media outlets such as RT (formerly Russia Today) and Sputnik Mundo have invested heavily in the Mexican market to foster a toxic anti-American sentiment that threatens regional stability.
The diplomatic report, prepared during the administration of President Joe Biden, details an exponential increase in Russian influence: the audience of RT en Español on the X platform skyrocketed from just 200,000 views in 2022 to an astonishing 715 million in 2023.
This expansion is no coincidence; it represents a deliberate strategy to build local credibility and erode the positive perception of the United States, Mexico’s main trading partner and ally on issues of security, migration, and commerce.
U.S. analysts warn that these campaigns not only spread false narratives about Yankee interventions in Hispanic America but also amplify internal divisions, such as criticism of the Mexico-United States-Canada Agreement (USMCA), portraying it as an instrument of imperialist domination.
The most alarming aspect is the role played by Morena supporters, described in the cable as “aligned with the Russian regime,” who help make this content go viral.
Figures close to the left-wing party, which has governed Mexico since 2018 under Andrés Manuel López Obrador and now under Claudia Sheinbaum, have been singled out for retweeting and promoting RT materials that glorify Vladimir Putin while demonizing Washington.
This ideological alignment, which sees Russia as a counterweight to “U.S. imperialism,” ignores the risks to Mexican sovereignty: an isolated Mexico from its northern neighbor would only benefit revisionist powers like Moscow, which seek a fragmented hemisphere to expand their influence over energy resources and trade routes.
The historical context heightens the concern. Since the Cold War, Russia —then the Soviet Union— has cultivated ties in Mexico through fronts such as the Club de Periodistas, a venue in the heart of Mexico City that FactChequeado describes as a “laundromat” for Kremlin propaganda.
Founded in the 1980s, this club amplifies anti-Western narratives and has served as a platform for events that normalize Russian aggression in Ukraine, presenting it as resistance to “global hegemonism.”
In the past two years, coinciding with the invasion of Kyiv, RT has hired Mexican influencers and financed local productions to disguise its agenda as independent journalism —a ruse that has seeped into progressive audiences dissatisfied with U.S. migration or trade policies.
This Russian interference is not only an attack on liberal democracy but a betrayal of the shared values between Mexico and the United States: freedom of the press, rule of law, and cooperation against transnational crime.
Morena, with its populist rhetoric, facilitates this siege by prioritizing alliances with autocracies over the robust partnership with Washington, which has invested billions in Mexican development.
It is imperative that the new Sheinbaum government, heir to the López Obrador legacy, reject these shadows and strengthen bilateral ties, remembering that true sovereignty lies in interdependence with democratic allies, not in flirtations with dictators.
The Russian Embassy in Mexico denies any manipulation, describing RT and Sputnik as “independent media,” but the facts speak for themselves.
About The Author
