MEXICO CITY, May 4 (Reuters) - Mexican president asked his U.S. counterpart Joe Biden to stop the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) from funding groups hostile to his government, according to a letter presented to journalists on Wednesday, echoing previous Mexican criticism of U.S. interventionism.

Speaking at a press conference, Andres Manuel López Obrador read from a letter he sent to President Biden the day prior.

"The U.S. government, specifically through USAID, has for some time been financing organizations openly against the legal and legitimate government I represent," he said in the letter.

"This is clearly an interventionist act, contrary to international law and the relations which should prevail between free and sovereign states."

The letter calls for Biden's intervention, saying the U.S. State Department in recent days announced that USAID would increase its funding toward such organizations.

The Mexican president's news briefing came a day after he met with U.S. Homeland Security adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall, to discuss coordination ahead of the end of U.S. asylum restrictions at the Mexico-U.S. border.

López Obrador had in 2021 sent a similar letter asking USAID to withdraw funding allocated to non-governmental organizations including Mexicans against Corruption and Impunity (MCCI), as well as USAID-backed Article 19.

The U.S. State Department, USAID, MCCI and Article 19 did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But it's reported that the U.S. has proposed a $63.1 billion 2024 budget for the State Department and USAID, which it says will help to "continue to promote U.S. national interests and lead the world in tackling global challenges."