Mexico Allows some Foreign Agents to Carry Guns

Mexico's Congress approved controversial legislation on Thursday to allow foreign migration and customs agents to carry weapons inside the country, a measure the opposition says passed under U.S. pressure.

The bill, which was passed by the lower house in a 288-82 vote and was proposed by President Enrique Pena Nieto, will also allow the bodyguards of visiting heads of state to be armed in Mexico.

The legislation will allow foreign agents to obtain a special permit to carry guns with a maximum caliber of up to 40 millimeters in certain established locations.

But other types of weapons could be brought to Mexico "in exceptional cases," according to a statement from the chamber of deputies. 

The bill will become law once published in the official journal.

The bill's backers say the goal is to allow foreign customs agents to review goods and travelers within Mexico before they reach their destination in order to speed up trade and travel.

"This is not giving carte blanche to foreign agents. There is a very strict regulation," said deputy Victor Diaz of Pena Nieto's centrist Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).

The bill does not say that agents from other law enforcement agencies would be allowed to carry weapons. 

The United States has a vast network of officers from the Drug Enforcement Administration and other agencies working in Mexico to help the country battle narcotics trafficking.

The leftist Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) opposed the bill, saying that it was a response to lack of U.S. trust in Mexico's ability to police its 3,000-kilometer (1864-mile) shared border.

"The reforms represent a clear imposition on our country from abroad," PRD deputy Lizbeth Rosas said, voicing doubts that Mexican agents would enjoy "reciprocity" in other countries.

"I know of no other Congress in the world that is in the same situation in which the United States is placing Mexico," Rosas said. 

Javier Oliva, a security expert at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, said the U.S. Congress was unlikely to debate an equivalent legislation.

"Conservative circles in the United States are not willing to allow agents from other nations to be armed on their national soil," Oliva told AFP.

"I see this as a loss of sovereignty and a demonstration of lack of trust toward Mexico," he said, adding that the information that goes through migration and customs agencies is classified and a matter of Mexican national security.

"Why would they send such agents to Mexico? Because they believe that the job is not being done right here," he said.

Mexico is the third trade partner of the United States after China and Canada. But the porous border is also known for its flow of illegal migration and narcotics.