President Claudia Sheinbaum said Tuesday that she asked United States President Joe Biden to provide all U.S. government information about the arrest in the U.S. earlier this year of alleged Sinaloa Cartel leader Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada.
Sheinbaum made the request to Biden during their bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Monday.
“I raised this issue, which has been difficult in the [bilateral] relationship,” she told Mexican broadcaster N+ at the airport in Rio before she boarded a flight to São Paulo to connect to an Aeroméxico flight to Mexico City.
Sheinbaum said she asked Biden for “all possible information” about the arrest of Zambada at an airport near El Paso, Texas, in July, so that the Mexican government can also “evaluate” it.
“I just told him that it would be very important for Mexico to have all the information,” she said before agreeing with a reporter that the U.S. president was “receptive” to the request.
The Mexican government has claimed that the United States government hasn’t been completely transparent about the arrest of Zambada and the events leading up to it.
Zambada claims he was kidnapped in Culiacán, Sinaloa, by Joaquín Guzmán López, a son of convicted drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera, and forced onto a private plane that took him to the Doña Ana County International Jetport in New Mexico.
Guzmán López, an alleged leader of the “Los Chapitos” faction of the Sinaloa Cartel, traveled to the United States on the same plane and was also arrested in New Mexico.
Former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador claimed in September that United States authorities negotiated with Guzmán López to arrange the delivery of Zambada to U.S. law enforcement.
He said it was “completely irregular” and “illegal” that a person was “kidnapped via an agreement and taken to the United States.”
López Obrador also said that the United States was partially responsible for Sinaloa Cartel infighting that erupted after the arrest of El Mayo.
The U.S. government has denied any involvement in the capture of Zambada, who pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking charges during a brief appearance in a New York City courthouse in September.
Guzmán López pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking and other U.S. charges in Chicago on July 30, five days after his arrest in New Mexico.
He, his brother Ovidio Guzmán López, and Zambada all remain in U.S. custody as they await future court appearances.
With reports from N+
President Sheinbaum needs to back away from her political mentor. She is facing the biggest challenge a Mexican President has ever had to navigate and continuing to blame America for doing something about the cartels and narcos is a waste of energy and valuable time that she should be using to plan and prepare for Trump. The message she keeps repeating is false hope. She is naive if she thinks Mexico will have a diplomatic solution to Trump’s policies. She’s dealing with an unhinged, narcissistic, ego maniac with whom traditional logic or thinking does not apply. He’s stacking his Cabinet with enablers and yes men. He has both the House and Senate behind him, and a Supreme Court that relieved him of criminal liability. Additionally, he did something the Republicans haven’t been able to accomplish in 20 years by winning both the popular and electoral vote. He won across all demographics including the Hispanic vote. When Mexico’s own people put their support behind a guy who didn’t keep his plans secret, they know who and what they were voting for, there is a problem. Regardless of how some of us feel, he and his policies were validated when the vast majority voted him into office. His transition team continually mentions that he and his policies were overwhelmingly chosen as the path forward the American people want. The ignorant citizenry who put this man in power, don’t understand economics, tariffs, or inflation. They will cheer him on and wear their red hats even as his policies destroy the economy. All in the name of national security and their subtle racism. The USMCA, tariffs, mass deportations, detention centers separating families, border security, corruption, drug trafficking, cartels, the list goes on. It’s time President Sheinbaum takes a long look at the issues she is facing in 2 short months. Issues Mexico hasn’t been able to solve to this point. I don’t believe worrying about how a cartel head arrived in the custody of US officials should be high on her list of priorities. Just assume the US knew about it and move on. It will not stop the cartel infighting. It will not put a drug kingpin back in power. It won’t do a damn thing. He’s a cartel leader for God’s sake. Move on. President Sheinbaum, you have much bigger problems.
Agree
I can not fathom why Mexico, i.e. AMLO and now Sheinbaum seem like a dog with a bone when it comes to El Mayo being whisked away to the U.S.
The vast majority of people definitely did not vote him into office but a majority seemingly everywhere did so which is a mandate of sorts but not a “vast majority” one.
Why would the President of Mexico put this item at the top of her list to discuss with the president of the United States. She really is a clone of the previous President, which is sad because she is smart and can do better then that.