President Claudia Sheinbaum spent quite a bit of time speaking about the security situation in Sinaloa at her Wednesday morning press conference.
She also revealed that she will travel to the violence-stricken northern state later this month, but stated that her visit would be focused on infrastructure projects rather than security issues.
Toward the end of her mañanera, Sheinbaum made a brief comment about Donald Trump’s recent taunting of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, even though she said on Tuesday that she wouldn’t engage in tit-for-tat public dialogue with the former and future United States president.
Sheinbaum repeats AMLO claim that US was involved in ‘El Mayo’ arrest
While speaking about the security situation in Sinaloa, Sheinbaum asserted that “the arrest of a drug trafficker” in the United States — alleged Sinaloa Cartel leader Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada — was the result of a U.S. “operation.”
The U.S. government, she added, “didn’t inform” the Mexican government about the “operation.”
Sheinbaum’s remarks came almost three months after former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador claimed that the U.S. government was partly to blame for the wave of cartel violence in Sinaloa because it carried out an “operation” that resulted in the arrest of Zambada in the U.S. on July 25.
By “operation” the ex-president apparently meant a negotiation with another alleged Sinaloa Cartel leader, Joaquín Guzmán López, that he believes resulted in the delivery of Zambada to U.S. law enforcement authorities at an airport near El Paso, Texas.
The U.S. government has denied any involvement in the capture of Zambada, who alleges he was abducted and forced onto a U.S.-bound plane by Guzmán López, one of Los Chapitos, as the sons of convicted drug trafficker Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera are known.
Sheinbaum said Wednesday that the arrest of Zambada “triggered this wave of violence in Sinaloa” – i.e. a fierce war between the “Los Mayos” and “Los Chapitos” factions of the Sinaloa Cartel.
A long-running conflict between the rival groups escalated in September and has claimed more than 500 lives since then.
The presence of the federal security minister in Sinaloa was ‘welcomed,’ president says
Sheinbaum told reporters that “there were very significant results” during the time Security Minister Omar García Harfuch spent in Sinaloa last week.
There were “very significant arrests” and drug seizures, and García met with members of the Sinaloa business community and the state’s security cabinet, she said.
“We’re going to continue getting results in Sinaloa and the whole country,” Sheinbaum said.
She asserted that the security strategy in Sinaloa has been strengthened as a result of García’s visit.
“There is different coordination now,” the president said.
She acknowledged that there is still fear and concerns about the security situation in Sinaloa among residents of the northern state, but stressed that she had “information” that the presence of García was very much “welcomed.”
“… It would be very good if that was also reported in the article,” Sheinbaum told a journalist, referring to a report on violence in Culiacán that was published by the El Universal newspaper on Wednesday.
‘I don’t think Canada should be spoken about like that’
A reporter noted that Trump called Prime Minister Trudeau “governor” of “the Great State of Canada” in a social media post, and asked Sheinbaum how she would respond if the president-elect referred to her in a similar way.
“I don’t think Canada should be spoken about in that way,” she said.
“Canada is also a free, independent, sovereign country. … I think that we should all treat each other as equals, in the end, it’s the maxim of [former Mexican president Benito] Júarez: ‘Among individuals, as among nations, respect for the rights of others is peace,'” Sheinbaum said.
While she responded to Trump’s remark about Trudeau, the president reiterated that her government won’t respond to every statement the soon-to-be U.S. president makes.
Trump has also suggested that Mexico should become a state of the United States due to the trade imbalance between the two countries.
Despite that remark, Trump’s tariff threats and his alleged mischaracterization of his call with the Mexican president last month, Sheinbaum said Wednesday that she was confident there would be “a good relationship with the United States” during the second Trump administration.
“And I say again, in the defense of our sovereignty and in the interests of the people of Mexico and the nation, we’re going to seek to collaborate [with the United States]. … In addition, we’re trade partners and we form a very powerful and strong joint economy,” she said.
By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies ([email protected])
