MEXICO CITY - Mexico plans to restrict the activities of foreign agencies like the US Drug Enforcement Administration, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Tuesday, following a row over the arrest of a former defense minister.
The proposed new regulations are contained in a bill that the government has presented to the Senate to reform the national security law.
Although Lopez Obrador did not give details of the proposed changes, press leaks suggest that foreign agents would have to share all the information they gather in Mexico and could lose their diplomatic immunity in certain circumstances.
"We want to resolve this once and for all so that the rules are clear," Lopez Obrador told reporters.
Despite Mexico's close relations with the United States "there is no clear legal framework for cooperation," the leftist leader said.
"In other countries there are rules ... about what they allow members of other governments to do in their territory, as independent, free, sovereign countries," he added.
Senate majority leader Ricardo Monreal said he expected the reform to be approved quickly as it "seeks to strengthen our sovereignty."
It must then be approved by the lower house of Congress.
Lopez Obrador has previously complained that the DEA acted behind his back in the case of former defense minister Salvador Cienfuegos.
The retired general was detained at a Los Angeles airport in October and indicted by US authorities on drug trafficking and money laundering charges, to the surprise and irritation of Mexican officials.
His arrest triggered a diplomatic rift that left the countries' future cooperation in fighting powerful cartels in doubt.
After diplomatic pressure from Mexico, US authorities last month dropped the charges and sent Cienfuegos home for possible prosecution.