An accident upon returning from an anti-drug operation in Chihuahua has become a new moment of friction between the governments of Mexico and the United States. The case has also put the Mexican president in the spotlight. Sheinbaum has repeatedly denied the participation of officials from the neighboring country in operations on Mexican soil, but has now gone on to ask for explanations and announce the start of investigations.

First modification: 04/23/2026 - 04:39 Last modification: 04/23/2026 - 04:40

The death of two officers of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in the mountains of Chihuahua on April 19 is becoming a new challenge for the relationship between Mexico and the United States.

At the same time, he is seriously compromising the word of President Claudia Sheinbaum, who from flatly denying the participation of foreign agents on the ground has gone on to ask the authorities of the state where the fatal accident occurred for explanations and promise to investigate whether federal laws were violated.

The incident took place in the Tarahumara mountains, in the northern state of Chihuahua, when a convoy that was returning after destroying several clandestine drug laboratories stopped because one of the vehicles in it skidded and fell down a ravine.

The truck exploded, killing two local investigative officers and two other people, later revealed to be U.S. officials, when the ambassador to Mexico, Ronald Johnson, posted a note of condolence on social media.

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César Jáuregui, attorney general of Chihuahua, initially confirmed that the injured were returning after participating in the operation, but later changed his version and said that the two Americans had not been involved, but rather later joined the convoy.

"There were no US agents in the operation to secure the drug laboratory," said Jáuregui, who maintained that the men had limited themselves to training tasks, a common cooperation between forces from Washington and Mexico City.

Subsequently, the newspaper 'The Washington Post' revealed that the deceased were indeed CIA agents, a version that was confirmed by US officials who spoke with the AP.

The CIA's action in Latin America has experienced dark chapters, such as participation in coups d'état and support for dictatorships between the 60s and 80s.

More recently, the role of the United States in Latin America has renewed controversies, with operations such as the extraction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro by delta forces, the questioned bombings against alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific, the naval blockade of Cuba or joint operations against drug trafficking in Ecuador.

A wounded narrative

Sheinbaum has repeatedly rejected Donald Trump's growing pressure for ground intervention against drug cartels, with a tenacious defense of sovereignty and national security.

That speech has already had its contradictory chapters, such as Sheinbaum's admission that United States surveillance drone flights in Mexican airspace in February were made at the request of his government.

Before that, a former Canadian Olympic athlete turned drug lord, Ryan Wedding, one of the FBI's most wanted fugitives, had been arrested in Mexico.

According to local authorities, Wedding voluntarily surrendered at the US embassy, ​​but Washington officials later assured that he was detained in a binational operation.

With the CIA agents, a pattern of contradictions reappears, leaving Sheinbaum once again forced to juggle discursively to demonstrate that she remains solid in her refusal to allow operations by foreign forces on the ground.

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The president insists that her Government was unaware that a device with the participation of CIA agents was underway and shifts responsibility to the local authorities of Chihuahua, where an opposition governor, María Eugenia Campos Galván, of the PAN, is in charge.

However, the Security Cabinet has confirmed that it was a coordinated operation between the local prosecutor's office and the Army, which implies federal participation.

On April 21, Sheinbaum changed his speech and said that he had asked state authorities for explanations and that he would launch an investigation to determine whether the cooperation in Chihuahua constituted a violation of the National Security Law and the Constitution.

A day later he added that his Government sent a diplomatic note to also demand explanations from the United States.

"There cannot be agents of any US government institution operating in Mexico," he stated. "It's very important that something like this doesn't go unaddressed."

"It is not part of the security protocol that we have agreed upon and the understanding that we have with them," he added, and then stated: "It is an issue of national security and sovereignty, which is why what happened is not minor."

Sheinbaum assures that there was no consent from his Government for this cooperation, as detected by the consultations made to the Secretariats of Foreign Affairs, Defense and Security.

Increasingly tense relationships

The new incident between Washington and Mexico City comes at a time when the two countries must resume talks on the free trade agreement between both countries and Canada, known as T-MEC.

The second round began on April 20 in the Mexican capital and included a meeting between Sheinbaum and the delegation led by Jamieson Greer.

For Mexico, it is crucial to renew the pact, which has largely freed it from Donald Trump's ferocious tariff policy, but now the Republican magnate's envoys appear willing to toughen the deal, to prevent Chinese products from passing through its southern neighbor in an effort to avoid import tariffs.

Sheinbaum's claim has not been well received in the White House and Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in an interview with 'Fox News' that the president should show "empathy" for the loss suffered by her country in Chihuahua.

"I think the president (Donald Trump) would agree that a little empathy from Claudia Sheinbaum would be very worth it for the two American lives that were lost, considering everything the United States is doing," Leavitt said.

The White House spokeswoman added that the Trump Administration has seen "some cooperation from President Sheinbaum. I think the president always wants to see more cooperation, when what we are doing not only benefits the American people, but also his people."

With AP and EFE

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