The president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, stated this Friday that the "alleged participation" of the United States in the capture of the former head of the Sinaloa Cartel, Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada, led to a resurgence of violence in the country following clashes between rival groups within the criminal organization.
As she detailed, these types of operations would have fueled internal tensions within the Sinaloa Cartel, causing betrayals and fractures through what they consider "was an interference" in Mexican territory without prior notification to the federal executive.
Sheinbaum reiterated that "it is better to coordinate, it is better to collaborate," emphasizing her stance that the fight against organized crime must be based on cooperation on equal terms and with respect for Mexico's sovereignty in relation to the United States, after the option of some type of direct intervention against these groups has been floated from Washington.
In her press conference this Friday, she stressed that "it doesn't matter which party they are from, because we do not politicize what has to do with security and justice, and we work very well with practically all governors," insisting that the security strategy remains outside of partisan disputes.
The leader also indicated that there are "contradictions" in the accounts of how 'El Mayo's' arrest occurred, which has generated intense debate in Mexico amid suspicions that it was a covert operation by the United States on national soil. "They participated, they didn't arrive by chance," she emphasized, questioning the official US version.
In this regard, she recalled that among the accounts circulating from Washington is one that maintains that 'El Mayo' and his alleged traitor, Joaquín Guzmán López, son of the capo Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán, arrived "by chance" at the border with the United States, "and another from the FBI itself, which places the small plane in which they arrived at a fair as if it were their operation."
Zambada was arrested on July 25, 2024, at an airport in Santa Teresa, in the state of New Mexico, near El Paso, after landing in a private jet along with Joaquín Guzmán López, who allegedly reached an agreement with US authorities and was the one who handed him over. The Mexican Attorney General's Office maintains an open investigation to clarify how that betrayal within the cartel was orchestrated.