Mexico’s El Mayo Seizure Questions Test United States’ Patience | International

“What happened in Sinaloa should be celebrated.” This is how US Ambassador Ken Salazar responded to the latest wave of questions from Mexico about the lack of information about the capture Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada.

During a news conference Tuesday, Salazar outlined a schedule of high-level communications between the two governments since the July 25 arrest of the notorious drug lord, who landed near the border city of El Paso. However, he left the questions unanswered. by Mexican Attorney General Alejandro Hertz earlier in the day, specifically regarding the identity of the plane’s pilot, why that person was not arrested and how the “cloned” plane was allowed to enter US territory.

Once again, Mexico and Washington are at loggerheads over conflicting narratives surrounding the collapse of the co-founder and leader The Sinaloa Cartel.

“The United States has given us some information, but an essential piece is still missing,” Manero said in his first public appearance in months.

Three months after Zambada’s arrest, Mexican authorities now believe Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada was betrayed and handed over by his godson, Joaquin “El Guero” Guzmán López, son of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán.

“The kidnapping has been proven,” said Hertz, the head of the General Prosecutor’s Office (FGR), pointing out that Guzmán López is the main suspect.

Missing from the mystery, however, are the details of the plane’s arrival in the United States and whether American officials knew of Guzmán López’s plans to surrender and betray Zambada.

In response, Ambassador Salazar provided at least five letters from senior US officials to their Mexican counterparts regarding the ongoing investigation. He explained that the communication began on the day of the arrest with a message from US Attorney General Merrick Garland to Hertz, followed by a call between the two officials two days later.

A week after El Mayo’s arrest, the deputy director of the FBI met with the head of the FGR to discuss the details of the case. Garland later sent another letter on August 16. “High-level drug traffickers usually don’t give up unless they feel pressured,” Salazar read in the letter sent by Garland. “Your efforts to capture and extradite (El Chapo’s son) Ovidio Guzman and Nestor Isidro Pérez Salas (Los Chapitos security chief) continued to pressure the cartel leaders,” said the letter, which congratulated Mexican authorities. “Joaquin Guzmán López’s surrender is a victory for both countries”.

Salazar’s message focused on the “victory” of the El Mayo takeover, rather than criticism of the lack of transparency.

“The events are the result of conflict between criminal groups and the enormous pressure that Mexican authorities, with the support of the United States, have exerted on cartel figures in recent years,” wrote US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken in Mexico. of Foreign Affairs Secretary Alicia Barcena in a letter sent Aug. 19, which Salazar read aloud.

Still, questions about Washington’s version of events remain. In the letter, Blinken assured Barcen that the United States had not conducted an operation on Mexican soil to apprehend Zambada and that the pilot was neither an “employee, contractor, nor citizen of the United States.” This official position was made public by the White House on August 10, just a day before El Mayo published a letter accusing his former allies of treason is the main focus of the Mexican authorities’ investigation.

When reporters asked about the identity of the pilot and why he was not apprehended, a visibly frustrated Salazar repeated, “It was not our plane or our pilot. It is impossible to say more clearly.”

During the briefing, the ambassador praised Mexico’s new president, Claudia Sheinbaum, as a “champion of bilateral relations,” although he acknowledged the strain of recent diplomatic tensions. “To say that there is no problem and that if there is a problem, (it’s someone else’s fault), it’s wrong,” Salazar said, alluding to Sheinbaum’s comments about the U.S.’s responsibility for escalating violence and cartel conflict in Sinaloa after the capture of Zambada. Salazar’s statements included other sharp remarks, such as: “We respect and expect respect” and “Respect deserves respect.”

Amid these controversies and the upcoming US presidential election on November 5, Salazar clarified that the US will remain steadfast in addressing drug trafficking, migration and other sensitive issues. “There is no prosperity without security,” he concluded.

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