Mexico’s President Demands Explanation After U.S., Mexican Officials Die
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum He said Monday he would seek an explanation after four U.S. and Mexican officials died in a crash over the weekend, adding that he was unaware of cooperation between the U.S. and the local government in northern Chihuahua.
Sheinbaum said the state attorney general wanted to ensure no laws were broken after Sunday’s deaths, which authorities said occurred while returning from an operation to destroy clandestine laboratories in a rural area.
The U.S. Embassy on Monday declined to identify the U.S. officials or which branch of the U.S. government they work for, but said the officials “support the efforts of Chihuahua state authorities to combat cartel operations.”
“It was not an operation that the security cabinet was aware of,” Sheinbaum told reporters. “We were not informed; it was the decision of the Chihuahua government.” He said they must seek authorization from the federal government for such cooperation at the state level “as established by the Constitution.”
The accident occurred at a time when Mexico was feeling in a difficult situation. Pressure from US President Donald Trump is increasing For the Sheinbaum administration to bring down the cartels. The government took action Joint military operation in Ecuador.
He died while authorities were returning from an operation to destroy laboratories of criminal groups possibly used to produce drugs, Chihuahua Chief Prosecutor César Jáuregui said Sunday. He said the four people killed were two investigative officials from the local government and two U.S. Embassy instructors who were participating in routine training.
U.S. Ambassador Ronald Johnson expressed his condolences on social media, but he and other officials provided few details about the incident.
Sheinbaum said more information would be released once all the details were gathered, but insisted there were “no joint operations on the ground or in the air.” He said the sharing of information between his government and the United States was carried out only within an “established” legal framework.
Sheinbaum said he plans to facilitate a meeting between Johnson and Mexico’s foreign minister on Monday.
While it is common for U.S. officials to provide training to Mexican security forces, their presence on Mexican soil has been a matter of ongoing controversy, which has intensified after Trump’s military operations in the United States. Venezuelan And Iranian.
The latest controversy arose in January over the former Canadian athlete’s detention in Mexico. Ryan’s WeddingHe is one of the most wanted fugitives in the United States. Mexican officials claimed he surrendered at the US Embassy, while US officials described his capture as the result of a binational operation.
Sheinbaum’s comments come at a pivotal time in U.S.-Mexico relations. The second round of negotiations between the United States and Mexico on the North American free trade agreement USMCA was scheduled to begin in Mexico City. US delegation is headed by the Trade Representative Jamieson GreerHe was scheduled to meet with the president on Monday.
On the same day, the Trump administration announced that it was imposing visa restrictions on family members of the Sinaloa Cartel.
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