MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Friday that a Reuters investigation detailing the close involvement of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency in Mexico's drug war was false.
Reuters said Sheinbaum’s comments mischaracterized the report and that the news agency stands by the article.
The story, published Wednesday, revealed that the CIA has been running covert operations in Mexico for years to help track down the country’s most-wanted drug traffickers, working with elite units inside the Mexican army and navy that receive CIA training, equipment, surveillance assistance and financial backing for activities like travel.
Asked about the Reuters investigation in her daily morning news conference, Sheinbaum affirmed that there was “cooperation and coordination in information" between the U.S. and Mexican governments in opposing drug cartels, without mentioning the CIA specifically. But she also took issue with a point that wasn’t made in the Reuters report, saying, “It is not true that there are CIA agents in Mexican army operations. That is totally false.”
A Reuters spokesperson said: “Reuters stands by its report of earlier this week on the CIA’s secret role in combating Mexico’s drug cartels, which was mischaracterized today by the Mexican government.”
The report, based on interviews with more than 60 current and retired American and Mexican officials, said the CIA operates in Mexico at the discretion of Mexico’s government. Mexico greenlights all capture operations, the report said, and uses Mexican forces – not U.S. personnel – to execute them.
Sheinbaum’s remarks Friday represented her first comment on the report. Prior to its publication, her office and the Mexican Army didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment and detailed questions submitted by Reuters for the story.
The Mexican Navy said in a response included in the report that it “maintains knowledge exchange and cooperation with navies, maritime forces, and other agencies from various countries,” to strengthen operational capabilities and collaboration on regional security.
(Reported by Stephen Eisenhammer in Mexico City. Edited by Michael Williams)
