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MEXICO CITY — The U.S. Embassy in Mexico said Tuesday it has launched a new initiative to help Americans understand the difference between bilateral cooperation and commenting on Mexico’s internal affairs, after Ambassador Ronald Johnson drew a public rebuke from President Claudia Sheinbaum for weighing in on domestic politics.

The program, informally called “Hands Off, But In Touch,” comes with laminated cue cards, approved talking points and a weekly reminder that Mexican affairs are for Mexicans to handle. Embassy staff said the goal is not silence, but “strategic restraint.”

Inside the embassy, diplomats reportedly underwent a short training session on how to express concern without sounding like they had already written a campaign slogan. One official said the hardest part was learning that “respecting sovereignty” is not the same thing as “vaguely acknowledging another country while sending in the CIA.”

A visitor from Ohio said he had assumed embassies mostly handled visas, passports and the occasional diplomatic lunch, not constitutional interpretations. By evening, staff said the new program had made progress, although Johnson was still reviewing whether “stay in your lane” counted as a bilateral issue.

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