President Claudia Sheinbaum hardened her stance against Washington by describing as interference the drug trafficking proceedings that the New York prosecutor’s office initiated against 10 Mexican officials, including members of Morena. During an event at the Monument to the Revolution, Sheinbaum pointed out that these actions seek to influence the 2027 elections.
“When from the outside it is dictated who is guilty and who is not. When we seek to pressure our institutions from the outside… we are no longer talking about cooperation, we are talking about interference,” he stated.
Accusations against officials
In April, the New York prosecutor’s office accused the governor of Sinaloa, Rubén Rocha, mayor Juan de Dios Gámez and eight other active and retired officials of collaborating with the Sinaloa Cartel. The Mexican Attorney General’s Office conditioned the arrests on the US providing evidence. Rocha and Gámez temporarily separated from their positions; two former secretaries surrendered to US authorities.
Sheinbaum questioned the legitimacy of the process: “Is it really genuine interest in helping Mexico? Or perhaps sectors of the American right are seeking to position themselves towards their 2026 elections?”
Tense bilateral relations
Since 2025, Trump’s criticism of Mexico for the fight against organized crime and tariffs on the automotive, steel and copper industries have generated friction. Sheinbaum has managed to maintain a cordial relationship, but this time it was more frontal.
The president denounced a “media offensive” by national and international conservative sectors, intensified after the incident on April 19 in Chihuahua, where two CIA agents died in a car accident after an operation against a synthetic drugs laboratory. Mexico protested the presence of the agents without authorization.
