Sheinbaum’s mañanera in 60 seconds

• 🚓 Sheinbaum questions U.S.-linked police academy in Querétaro: The president indicated that the federal government knows little about the “International Police Training Academy,” whose figurative cornerstone Governor Mauricio Kuri and U.S. Ambassador Ronald Johnson laid Friday. She said such a project can’t exist without federal authorization and that she’d ask the Foreign Ministry to contact both men.
• 🇧🇷 Sheinbaum will wait for Brazil’s runoff before weighing in: Flavio Bolsonaro (47%) and Lula (45%) head to an Oct. 25 second round in Latin America’s most populous country and largest economy. Asked about Mexico being left without allies in Latin America, Sheinbaum said “our main ally is the people of Mexico.”

Why today’s mañanera matters

President Claudia Sheinbaum’s most significant remarks at her Monday morning press conference were those she made about an “international” police academy project in the state of Querétaro.

Her remarks came after Querétaro Governor Mauricio Kuri — a representative of the opposition National Action Party (PAN) — announced in a social media post on Friday that “the cooperation between the United States and Querétaro in the area of specialized police training now has a home in our state: the International Police Training Academy.”

“Today we laid the cornerstone of this space where we will continue the effort we’ve been making for years: investing in the preparation of our police, raising our standards and seeking experiences that allow us to better defend and serve the families of Querétaro. I am enormously grateful to the U.S. government and the Ambassador Ronald Johnson for the collaboration we’ve built and for the trust placed in our state, chosen to establish this international academy, the only one of its kind in Latin America,” Kuri wrote.

Sheinbaum questioned the establishment of the academy and the United States’ apparent involvement in the project. She indicated that her government knows little about the project, and declared that such an academy can’t be established without federal authorization.

Sheinbaum — who has accused the U.S. government of meddling in Mexican affairs — said she would ask the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to contact Johnson and Kuri to ask them about the academy.

Also of note at today’s mañanera were the president’s comments on Sunday’s presidential election in Brazil. Right-wing Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, attracted 47% of the vote, while current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva had 45% support. As neither garnered majority support, a run-off vote will be held on Oct. 25.

Sheinbaum raises questions about police academy and Querétaro-US collaboration 

A reporter asked Sheinbaum about former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s written remarks about U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ronald Johnson.

The reporter said that in his new book “Pueblo,” López Obrador “speaks about the intervention [in Mexico] of the [U.S.] Embassy and the security agencies of that country, and “also speaks about the revocation of his son’s [U.S.] visa.”

She said that AMLO wrote that Johnson “is not diplomatic or political, but rather acts like an excited and meddlesome police officer.” The reporter also cited López Obrador as writing that Johnson should be “more level-headed and less arrogant.”

Sheinbaum responded that “as president, I always have to have a diplomatic opinion.”

She subsequently spoke about what she called “a case that caught my attention.”

🚨 Sheinbaum reclama a Kuri por acto con embajador de EU

La presidenta @Claudiashein expresó su molestia porque el gobernador de Querétaro, Mauricio Kuri, invitó al embajador de Estados Unidos a colocar la primera piedra de una academia internacional de capacitación policial sin convocar a la Defensa, al Gabinete de Seguridad federal ni a la SRE. https://t.co/Zd0gY5YwjI

— LuisCardenasMX (@LuisCardenasMx) October 5, 2026

Sheinbaum told reporters that the governor of Querétaro, Mauricio Kuri, invited Johnson to lay the cornerstone of an “International Police Training Academy” in recent days.

She said that the Querétaro government didn’t invite the Mexican military, the federal Security Cabinet or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to participate in the event.

“The ambassador of the United States was invited. That says something about the U.S. ambassador and the governor of Querétaro,” Sheinbaum said.

“… So far we’ve had a good relationship with the ambassador and he’s helped to resolve various issues we have with the U.S. government, but there are issues where we ask ourselves, why … [aren’t Johnson’s dealings with Mexican authorities] through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as they should be, as the law establishes,” she said.

She subsequently questioned why Kuri was collaborating with Johnson rather than the federal Security Cabinet on an international academy focused on training police to combat organized crime.

Organized crime-related offenses are “federal crimes,” Sheinbaum emphasized.

“These are examples where I believe the limit between what should be and what shouldn’t be is reached,” she said.

Sheinbaum said she didn’t believe Kuri was committing a crime via his government’s collaboration with the United States, but stressed that it is “very important to show” and “say” what he is doing.

“If we don’t, it becomes something normal, and it’s not normal,” she said.

“… A state government is not directly responsible for [combating] organized crime, they are federal crimes,” Sheinbaum said.

“And secondly, how can a cornerstone be laid by a U.S. ambassador and a Mexican ambassador without the [presence of the] federal [Security] Cabinet? … We honestly can’t understand it,” she said.

The United States and Querétaro Expand Security Cooperation with New State Interdiction Academy. 🇺🇸🇲🇽 #JuntosLogramosMás https://t.co/H4FwKWSoeP

— Embajador Ronald Johnson (@USAmbMex) October 3, 2026

Asked about U.S. involvement in the training of Mexican state police, Sheinbaum responded:

“This cannot be, it mustn’t happen. Any U.S. agency or institution that wants to do training in Mexico for security reasons … has to go through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and [comply] with the [national] security law. … The governor has to explain because he can’t establish an international academy without the authorization of the government of Mexico. … How can there be an international training academy in the state of Querétaro with the ambassador?”

Sheinbaum said she would “obviously” ask the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to contact Johnson and Kuri to ask them about the academy.

Later in the press conference, a different reporter asked the president whether the situation in Querétaro was similar to that in Chihuahua, where in April the CIA allegedly participated in a drug lab raid without the knowledge or authorization of the federal government. Chihuahua is also governed by the PAN, and Governor Maru Campos has faced allegations that she violated the National Security Law by allowing the CIA to operate in the state.

The reporter asked whether Kuri had violated the national security law by collaborating with the U.S. on a police training academy.

“So far, no,” Sheinbaum responded.

“But we have to call it out and we have to say it and we have to talk to him so that he complies with all the requirements in order to have this collaboration [with the U.S.] and also to find out what this international training academy is,” she said.

‘Our main ally is the people of Mexico,’ Sheinbaum says ahead of Brazil runoff vote

Asked about the presidential election in Brazil, Sheinbaum responded, “We have to wait for the second round.”

“We’re going to wait for the second round and once the whole process is finished we can give more of an opinion,” she said.

Asked about the possibility of Mexico being left “without allies in Latin America” (given that right-wing governments are now in office in various countries in the region, including Argentina, Chile and Colombia), Sheinbaum said that “our main ally is the people of Mexico.”

“While we’re close to the people, representing the people and governing for the people, there won’t be any problem,” she said.

The people of Mexico are “our great ally,” Sheinbaum said. “And we’re going to continue working for the people.”