Sheinbaum’s mañanera in 60 seconds

• 🇲🇽🇺🇸 New ambassador confirmed: The U.S. approved Roberto Lazzeri as Mexico’s next ambassador to Washington. Sheinbaum said he will head to D.C. in the coming weeks. A key part of Lazzeri’s mandate is likely to be trade diplomacy, including negotiations related to the ongoing USMCA review. He replaces Esteban Moctezuma, ambassador since 2021.
• 🤝 Sheinbaum meets Mullin: The president will meet on Thursday with U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, accompanied by her Security Cabinet, with talks centered on the bilateral security “understanding” reached last year. Sheinbaum said she would also raise the deaths of Mexicans in ICE custody, but would not broach the U.S. case against Sinaloa Governor Rubén Rocha Moya, noting it falls under the U.S. Department of Justice, not Homeland Security.

Why today’s mañanera matters

Among the topics discussed at President Claudia Sheinbaum’s Thursday morning press conference was the appointment of a new Mexican ambassador to the United States and the president’s imminent meeting with U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin.

The appointment of a new ambassador and the meeting with Mullin come at a time when the Mexico-U.S. relationship is strained in light of the revelation that CIA agents participated in a drug lab raid in Chihuahua last month without the knowledge or authorization of the Mexican government.

Sheinbaum has accepted that the CIA participated in the operation in Chihuahua, but last week rejected a CNN report that claimed that the CIA “facilitated” a “targeted assassination” of an alleged Sinaloa Cartel member in México state in March. Meanwhile, Mexican authorities continue to maintain that there is insufficient proof to arrest Sinaloa Governor Rubén Rocha Moya and other current and former Sinaloa-based officials who U.S. prosecutors accuse of drug trafficking in league with the Sinaloa Cartel.

The security-related bilateral tension and other pressure points in the Mexico-U.S. relationship, including ones related to the USMCA review, make Mexico’s dispatch of a new ambassador to Washington and meetings between Mexican and U.S. officials particularly consequential.

On Thursday, Sheinbaum stressed that Mexico wants security cooperation with the United States to take place within the framework of a security “understanding” the two countries reached last year.

The president has stressed on countless occasions that said understanding is based on principles such as respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as mutual trust. The U.S. appears to have violated those principles with the CIA’s involvement in an operation in Chihuahua.

Mexican ambassador approved by US

Sheinbaum noted that the U.S. government had accepted the nomination of Roberto Lazzeri as Mexico’s ambassador to the United States.

“We received approval,” she said, adding that the incoming ambassador will be heading to Washington, D.C., to take up his position in the coming weeks.

Sheinbaum announced on April 23 that the government was proposing Lazzeri, the head of two Mexican development banks, as Mexico’s next ambassador to the United States. At the time, the president suggested that Lazzeri, a former Finance Ministry official, was well-qualified to engage with the United States on trade issues as this year’s review of the USMCA free trade pact takes place.

Lazzeri will replace former Education Minister Esteban Moctezuma, who has been Mexico’s ambassador to the United States since 2021.

Sheinbaum to meet with Markwayne Mullin

Sheinbaum noted that she would meet later in the day with U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin.

She said that members of the federal government’s Security Cabinet would accompany her in her meeting with Mullin, who replaced Kristi Noem as Homeland Security secretary in March.

She said that the U.S. official would remain with Security Cabinet members after her meeting with him to continue working.

Sheinbaum indicated that the focus of the meeting with Mullin would be the security “understanding” that Mexico and the U.S. reached last year.

“What we want is for us to continue working within the framework of this agreement,” she said.

Later in her press conference, Sheinbaum said that she would speak about a range of issues with Mullin, including the death of Mexicans in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

She said that she wouldn’t ask the Homeland Security secretary about the case against Rocha and the other officials as it corresponds to the U.S. Department of Justice.

“It’s another area of the U.S. government,” Sheinbaum said.

She also said that her planned meeting with Sara Carter, director of the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy, may be postponed.

Sheinbaum said that Foreign Affairs Minister Roberto Velasco told her that Carter may not make it to Mexico City next Monday due to a scheduling conflict.

By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies (peter.davies@mexiconewsdaily.com)