The dice was loaded from the start

During the height of the Cold War, Mexico City became the perfect battlefield for the United States and the Soviet Union to spy on each other. This is a project by Eleana Konstantellos & Valeria Arendar.

A project by Eleana Konstantellos & Valeria Arendar

During the height of the Cold War, Mexico City became the perfect battlefield for the United States and the Soviet Union to spy on each other. American and Soviet spies were known to be everywhere. It is even said that all Mexican presidents who were in charge of the country between 1958 and 1988 were recruited by the US Intelligence Agency (CIA) under the operation LITEMPO; an unofficial intelligence network for the exchange of select and sensitive political information coordinated by Winston Scott who recruited at the highest levels of the Mexican government a total of 12 agents.

Mexico City operated as a strategic point for both sides as it was the only territory in Latin America where there was a representation of each country. Among the staff of each embassy, there were "secret" agents from their respective intelligence offices who enjoyed freedom of movement throughout the country. This leads us to wonder from the present: What can we imagine about the relationship between the US and the USSR mediated in Mexico City?

This project questions the free operation of espionage networks on all fronts. In this way, we seek to decipher how Mexico City became one of the main nodes of global espionage for the defence of capitalism and the entry of communism into Latin America.  We seek to understand the geopolitical importance of Mexico as the great scenario of the Cold War by presenting a history of intrigues, treasons, executions and tortures.