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Sheinbaum asks U.S. agencies to prioritize coordination; 'unilateral action only generates more violence,' she warns
🇲🇽 Mexico /Conflict & Security

Sheinbaum asks U.S. agencies to prioritize coordination; 'unilateral action only generates more violence,' she warns

From El Universal · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources New plan
  • Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum urged the U.S. to prioritize coordination with Mexican authorities over unilateral actions, stating the latter only fuels more violence.
  • Sheinbaum cited the capture and transfer of Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada to the U.S. as an example of risks from operations conducted without informing Mexico.
  • She believes such actions can cause internal disputes within cartels, leading to increased violence in Mexico.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has called on the United States government and its security agencies to prioritize coordination with Mexican authorities, warning that unilateral actions or violations of sovereignty only generate more violence. She emphasized that collaboration yields better results than independent operations.

It is better to coordinate, it is better to collaborate, because the results are always better when we collaborate than when one acts unilaterally, even violating sovereignty.

— Claudia SheinbaumPresident Sheinbaum's call for enhanced U.S.-Mexico cooperation on security matters.

Sheinbaum pointed to the recent capture and transfer of Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada to the U.S. as an example of the risks involved in operations conducted without informing the Mexican state. She argued that this specific action likely caused an internal dispute within the Sinaloa Cartel, leading to a resurgence of violence.

"It is better to coordinate, it is better to collaborate, because the results are always better when we collaborate than when one acts unilaterally, even violating sovereignty," Sheinbaum stated during her morning press conference. She suggested that if U.S. authorities had information on the whereabouts of criminal targets, they should have shared it with Mexico for national institutions to carry out the arrests.

By taking a criminal kidnapped by another criminal to the United States, with the alleged participation of the United States, an internal division is caused. And that internal division generates a lot of violence in Sinaloa and in other parts of the country.

— Claudia SheinbaumPresident Sheinbaum's explanation of how unilateral U.S. actions can destabilize Mexican cartels and increase violence.

The president also questioned the conflicting versions from U.S. authorities regarding the entry of Zambada and Joaquín Guzmán López into the U.S. She noted that while one account suggests they arrived on their own, another attributed to the FBI presented the aircraft used as part of an agency operation, implying direct involvement rather than a chance arrival.

What should have been done? Provide the information of where they were so that it would have been the Mexican State that arrested these criminals. The result would have been different.

— Claudia SheinbaumPresident Sheinbaum's proposed alternative to unilateral U.S. operations.

Sheinbaum stressed that while investigations into the specifics fall under the Attorney General's office, it is crucial for the federal government to highlight such events. She believes that unilateral interventions and agreements with one criminal organization at the expense of another do not contribute to pacification.

So, by saying 'it was my operation,' it means they participated, not that they arrived by chance.

— Claudia SheinbaumPresident Sheinbaum questioning conflicting U.S. accounts of criminal captures.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by El Universal in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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