Russian Disinformation Network Operates Through Journalists’ Club in Mexico City

In the heart of Mexico City’s Historic Center, just a short walk from the iconic Zócalo, stands a three-story neoclassical building housing the Club de Periodistas. While the organization claims to have “promoted journalistic excellence since 1952,” a new investigation reveals it now serves as a channel for Russian propaganda and disinformation.

The investigation, conducted by Factchequeado with support from the International Center for Journalists and published in partnership with Animal Político, found that the Club actively promotes Kremlin-aligned narratives about the Ukraine war, including claims that Russia’s invasion was caused by “NATO’s eastward expansion.”

Led by Celeste Sáenz de Miera and her husband Mouris Salloum George, the Club presents its website Voces del Periodista as a platform for “freedom of expression and journalistic rigor.” However, analysis by the Alliance for Securing Democracy at the German Marshall Fund reveals a different reality – the site functions primarily as “a conduit for pro-Kremlin and anti-Western propaganda.”

Since April 2025, an overwhelming 72% of the site’s content consists of republished material from state-run outlets. Russian media dominates, with RT and Sputnik accounting for 53% of all content, followed by Cuba’s Prensa Latina at 18.6%. The sheer volume of publication – averaging 136.9 articles weekly – suggests an automated system designed specifically to amplify Russian messaging.

When contacted, Sáenz de Miera and Salloum George claimed that Voces del Periodista “operates as a communication system” that is “autonomous from the Club,” but failed to explain why nearly three-quarters of its content originates from Russian and Cuban state media.

The organization’s biweekly print magazine, also called Voces del Periodista, furthers this pattern while receiving Mexican public funding. Financial records obtained through Mexico’s National Transparency Platform show the Mexican Senate – controlled by the ruling Morena party since 2018 – spent approximately 951,000 pesos (about $51,000) on advertising in the magazine between 2020 and 2023.

Content analysis of the magazine reveals careful adherence to Kremlin terminology, referring to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine not as an “invasion” but as a “special military operation” – precisely matching Putin’s preferred language. The magazine also promotes the Russian narrative that “NATO expansion” caused the conflict.

Notable contributors to the publication include Russia’s ambassador to Mexico, Nikolay Sofinskiy, and Dmitry Medvedev, vice chair of Russia’s Security Council. In Sofinskiy’s case, the magazine fails to disclose to readers that he serves as Putin’s chief diplomat in Mexico.

Beyond publishing, the Club has hosted Russian state media representatives for training sessions aimed at Mexican journalists. In January 2024, senior executives from Russia Today conducted a five-day “content creation” course at the Club’s Neoclassical Patio. Participants included Victoria Vorontsova, director of RT en Español, and other key RT personnel.

The Club claimed it charged nothing for the venue, despite the space normally costing around 431,000 pesos ($23,300) for similar multi-day events. “The spaces were absolutely free for RT, since renowned journalists generously offered a course on technological and journalistic updates with academic validity,” the Club’s directors stated in a response letter.

The organization’s annual “National and International Journalism Contest,” ostensibly designed to “uphold the profession,” has increasingly become a vehicle to legitimize Russian propagandists. Since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, nearly all international prizes have been awarded to Russian state media or aligned outlets, including Tsargrad, founded by sanctioned Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeev.

In 2023, the Club honored American content creator Jackson Hinkle with its “best international analysis” award. Hinkle, who operates a California-registered company called “Fake News Media LLC” where he lists himself as “chief propagandist,” is known for promoting Russian disinformation and maintaining close ties with Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.

The Club’s involvement with disinformation figures extends to its award selection process. The 2024 judging panel included Spanish writer Guillermo Rocafort, who that same year was convicted by a Madrid court for spreading false statements about a prominent Spanish journalist.

Sáenz de Miera has publicly referred to the Club as “the Mexican home” of Russian diplomats, a relationship visible on social media where Russia’s Foreign Ministry regularly celebrates the Club’s recognition of Russian media figures. The Club has also lobbied internationally on Russia’s behalf, including asking UNESCO to revise a 2024 report on risks faced by journalists to include “our Russian colleagues.”

When asked for comment, both Russia’s ambassador to Mexico and the communications director of the Mexican Senate did not respond before publication.