Spying claim may be new snag for Mexico oil debate

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican President Felipe Calderon's efforts to get a divided Congress to back an oil reform proposal are facing a new snag as a key opposition lawmaker accuses the government of spying on him.

Sen. Manlio Beltrones, who leads the centrist Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, in the Senate where energy talks are centered, said this week the government was collecting information about him to try and find his "weaknesses."

The government's spy agency, known as the Cisen, has denied spying on Beltrones, who said he had seen a document containing information compiled about him.

But the accusations will sour the atmosphere in the Congress and could further hurt the chances of a consensus over a reform the ruling conservatives say is vital to shore up the flagging state-run oil industry.

"The element of distrust settles in," said Adolfo Mota, deputy coordinator for the PRI in the lower house.

"Being observed, watched and spied on certainly creates suspicions that need to be removed," Mota told Reuters.

Calderon lacks a majority in Congress and will need PRI votes to pass a reform that aims to spur new exploration and drilling projects by allowing state-controlled monopoly Pemex to hire private companies under incentive-fee contracts.

Beltrones told Mexican radio this week the document "had the stamp of a government job," and PRI legislators said it contained details of the senator's diary, his personal computer access codes and information about his family.

The PRI, which lost power in 2000 after ruling for seven decades, cooperated with Calderon last year to pass a tax law and has said it also wants to help rewrite energy laws. But some PRI lawmakers have been increasingly cagey in recent weeks over Calderon's ideas on hiring more private firms.