Russia’s Media Offensive Targets Mexico Amid Political Tensions

Russian state media outlet Russia Today (RT) launched an aggressive promotional campaign in Mexico City during a period of political uncertainty leading up to Mexico’s 2024 presidential election. Between late 2023 and early 2024, RT placed promotional posters throughout Metro and Metrobús stations, featuring QR codes that directed commuters to the channel’s newscasts.

The campaign drew immediate scrutiny from Mexican media outlets, which highlighted that RT had been blocked by the European Union and major tech companies like Google for disseminating pro-Putin narratives and disinformation regarding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Despite these international restrictions, RT faced no similar limitations in Mexico, where then-President Andrés Manuel López Obrador publicly opposed restricting access to Russian state media content for Mexican audiences.

In January 2024, RT expanded its influence by hosting a communications workshop in Mexico City as part of its “RT CompaRTe” initiative. According to the channel, similar training events have been conducted across at least eight Latin American countries over the past three years, including Argentina, Colombia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba, Guatemala, and Panama.

The Club de Periodistas de México, which hosted the workshop, told Factchequeado that “the spaces for RT were completely free,” with no fees charged to participants. “In fact, we provided coffee and a modest buffet, covered by the Club de Periodistas de México,” the organization stated. Workshop topics included source management, research methodology, artificial intelligence, and even fact-checking.

RT claims more than 1,000 journalists and media workers from across Latin America have participated in its workshops and exchange programs since the CompaRTe initiative began. The Venezuela-based fact-checking outlet Cazadores de Fake News reported that during a similar workshop in Venezuela, participants supportive of the government shouted “¡Viva Rusia!” and “¡Viva Putin!” in the presence of RT executives and the Russian ambassador to Caracas.

In Mexico City, the RT workshop was led by Celeste Sáenz de Miera of the Club de Periodistas, who has actively promoted pro-Russian narratives online and coordinates an annual journalism awards program where RT in Spanish and its journalists have been recurring winners.

RT’s Growing Latin American Presence

RT claims its Spanish-language content currently broadcasts in 18 Latin American countries, including Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Honduras, Venezuela, and Cuba. In Mexico alone, at least 81 cable providers carry RT programming. While Izzi removed the channel from its package, TotalPlay continues to offer it.

The Telsusa or Albavisión network broadcasts RT over open digital television with claimed coverage in 15 of Mexico’s 32 states and a potential audience of 11 million households. In 2024, Telsusa secured a contract from the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) worth 1 million pesos to broadcast institutional campaigns, following a 2 million-peso contract with Mexico City’s Tourism Promotion Fund in 2023.

Victoria Vorontsova, RT en Español director, defended the network’s expansion during the January workshops, stating: “Personally, I don’t feel any opposition to RT in any Latin American country. RT has faced challenges in the U.S., Europe, and England, but we are happy, our audience is loyal, and it keeps growing.”

Alleged Covert Operations

Beyond public broadcasts and workshops, U.S. authorities have identified what they describe as covert Russian operations aimed at spreading disinformation in multiple countries, including Mexico. In September 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice seized 32 internet domains linked to “Operation Doppelgänger,” allegedly run by Russian companies Social Design Agency (SDA) and Structura National Technology.

According to U.S. authorities, these companies cloned government and media websites to spread anti-Ukraine narratives and influence voters in various countries, including during the 2024 U.S. presidential election. “As alleged in our court filings, President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle, including Sergei Kiriyenko, directed Russian public relations companies to promote disinformation and state-sponsored narratives as part of a campaign to influence the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election,” said then-Attorney General Merrick B. Garland.

One seized document revealed that SDA included Mexico in its disinformation plans under “Operation México No Perdona” (“Mexico Does Not Forgive”), which aimed to encourage “anti-American sentiment” and exacerbate tensions between the United States and Mexico, with a secondary goal of influencing the U.S. presidential election.

Fact-checkers at Factchequeado and El Sabueso have observed a surge in disinformation about Mexico-U.S. relations since early 2025, including fake accounts impersonating news outlets and journalists using AI-generated identities. Examples include false claims about potential U.S. military intervention in Mexico and fabricated statements attributed to President Claudia Sheinbaum and former President Donald Trump.

As Russia’s media influence continues to expand across Latin America, concerns grow about the potential impact on regional politics and U.S.-Mexico relations, particularly as disinformation campaigns increasingly target both nations’ domestic audiences.