MEXICO CITY, July 15 (Reuters) - Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Wednesday rejected comments from the head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) who said there is "a deadly connection" between the Mexican government and the country's drug cartels, calling the remarks "unfortunate" and baseless.
DEA Administrator Terry Cole on Tuesday said the Mexican government and cartel networks were "one in the same" and the agency's "number one priority."
In her daily press conference, Sheinbaum said the remarks seemed "a very unfortunate statement." "It seems more like a political statement than one backed by evidence.," she added.
Sheinbaum said the DEA should focus its efforts on combating drug trafficking, distribution, and money laundering within the United States, which she described as the world's largest market for illicit drugs.
On Tuesday, the Mexican government issued a formal statement rejecting Cole's remarks, calling them inconsistent with the results of its anti-cartel efforts. The statement reiterated Mexico's willingness to cooperate with Washington, provided such collaboration respects Mexican sovereignty.
The spat comes amid worsening relations between the U.S. and Mexico, with a U.S. indictment of Sinaloa Governor Ruben Rocha in April triggering a strong rebuke from Sheinbaum's government which has said there is not enough evidence to execute a warrant for his arrest.
This week, Mexico also filed criminal complaints with U.S. prosecutors over the deaths of Mexican nationals in immigration enforcement in the United States.
(Reporting by Ana Isabel Martinez and Aida Pelaez-Fernandez,Writing by Natalia Siniawski, Editing by Stephen Eisenhammer)
