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| CISEN | |
|---|---|
| Name | Centro de Investigación y Seguridad Nacional |
| Native name | Centro de Investigación y Seguridad Nacional |
| Founded | 1989 |
| Dissolved | 2018 |
| Headquarters | Mexico City |
| Country | Mexico |
| Jurisdiction | Federal government of Mexico |
| Chief1 name | Gustavo Salas Centeno (last director) |
| Parent agency | Secretariat of the Interior |
CISEN The Centro de Investigación y Seguridad Nacional was the principal domestic intelligence agency of Mexico from 1989 until its replacement in 2018. It provided strategic assessments, operational intelligence, and security advice to executive authorities including the President of Mexico, the Secretariat of the Interior (Mexico), and cabinet ministers. CISEN operated alongside federal entities such as the Secretariat of National Defense (Mexico), the Secretariat of the Navy (Mexico), and the Attorney General of Mexico (PGR), engaging in interagency coordination on issues ranging from organized crime to foreign influence.
CISEN was established in 1989 during the presidency of Carlos Salinas de Gortari amid concerns following the 1985 Mexico City earthquake and the 1988 Mexican general election controversies, succeeding earlier intelligence structures linked to the Secretariat of the Interior (Mexico). Throughout the 1990s CISEN collected information related to the Zapatista Army of National Liberation, the 1994 Assassination of Luis Donaldo Colosio, and narcotics trafficking involving cartels such as the Sinaloa Cartel, the Juárez Cartel, and the Tijuana Cartel. In the 2000s CISEN expanded cooperation with foreign services including the Central Intelligence Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Spain's CNI, and Canada's Canadian Security Intelligence Service on counterterrorism, counter-narcotics, and transnational organized crime. Reforms and scandals in the 2010s—linked to revelations about surveillance of activists, journalists, and politicians—preceded structural changes under the administration of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, culminating in its dissolution and replacement by the Centro Nacional de Inteligencia in 2018.
CISEN reported administratively to the Secretariat of the Interior (Mexico) and functionally to the President of Mexico. Its internal divisions encompassed analysis, operations, technical services, and administrative support, modeled in part on institutions such as the National Security Agency, the MI5, and the Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure. Regional liaison offices worked with state-level actors including the Attorney General of Mexico (PGR), the state prosecutors', and municipal authorities in hubs like Guadalajara, Monterrey, and Tijuana. Leadership appointments were often political, involving figures connected to administrations of Vicente Fox, Felipe Calderón, and Enrique Peña Nieto.
CISEN’s mandate covered intelligence collection, analysis, risk assessment, and advising executive decision-makers on threats such as cartel violence linked to the Gulf Cartel, cyber intrusions tied to actors in Russia or other foreign states, and illicit financing schemes intersecting with institutions like the Bank of Mexico. It contributed to operations targeting kidnapping rings that affected citizens in Chihuahua and Guerrero, supported protective details for visiting dignitaries from United States, Spain, and Argentina, and produced strategic reports for ministries including the Secretariat of Defense (Mexico). CISEN also maintained liaison with international organizations such as the Organization of American States on regional security trends.
Operational activities attributed to CISEN included human intelligence collection, signals intelligence cooperation with partners like the National Security Agency and GCHQ, and technical surveillance allegedly deployed against individuals associated with the Zapatista Army of National Liberation and opposition figures in Mexico City. The agency produced threat assessments during crises such as the 2009 swine flu pandemic in Mexico, supported operations against drug-trafficking convoys in coordination with the Federal Police (Mexico) and the Mexican Army, and assisted investigations into cross-border organized crime tied to routes through Nuevo León and Sinaloa. Training programs involved exchanges with the FBI Academy, the United States Army Intelligence Center, and Latin American counterparts including the Intelligence Directorate (Chile).
CISEN operated under Mexican statutory frameworks enacted by the Congress of the Union (Mexico), with oversight mechanisms nominally involving legislative committees in the Chamber of Deputies (Mexico) and the Senate of the Republic (Mexico). Its authorities were shaped by laws concerning national security and classified information debated during administrations of Ernesto Zedillo and later presidents. International cooperation was governed by agreements with the United States, bilateral intelligence-sharing pacts with Spain’s Government of Spain, and regional accords mediated through bodies such as the Organization of American States and diplomatic channels at the Embassy of the United States, Mexico City.
CISEN faced criticism and controversy over alleged surveillance of journalists from outlets like Proceso and Reforma, monitoring of human-rights activists associated with groups such as Centro de Derechos Humanos Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez, and reported dossiers on politicians including figures from the National Action Party (Mexico) and the Institutional Revolutionary Party. Leaks and investigative reporting by media organizations including Aristegui Noticias and international partners highlighted practices compared with scandals involving NSA surveillance, raising concerns among civil-society organizations such as Article 19 and Human Rights Watch. Allegations of insufficient legislative oversight and opaque budgets prompted calls for reform from legislators in the Chamber of Deputies (Mexico) and international observers.
In 2018 the agency was replaced by the National Intelligence Center as part of reforms enacted by the administration of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, aiming to centralize intelligence functions and address criticisms raised by civil-society organizations and international partners. Debates over institutional memory, archives, and accountability involved actors such as the National Human Rights Commission (Mexico) and investigative journalists from El Universal and La Jornada. CISEN’s legacy includes contributions to counter-narcotics operations, controversies over surveillance practices, and influences on subsequent intelligence reforms that continue to shape security policy in Mexico.
Category:Intelligence agencies of Mexico