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MEXICO CITY, April 27 (Reuters) – Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Monday her government told the United States, via a diplomatic note, that the unauthorized presence of U.S. officials at an anti-narcotics operation \u200cin northern Chihuahua state should not be repeated.<\/p>\n
Two U.S. officials and two Mexican officials were killed \u200cin a car crash on April 19 after the operation. The presence of the U.S. officials rekindled U.S.-Mexico tensions over security cooperation.<\/p>\n
The fallout prompted \u200bChihuahua’s prosecutor, Cesar Jauregui, to resign late on Monday, saying he had provided an inconsistent account of events.<\/p>\n
Sheinbaum has said the federal government was not aware the U.S. officials, identified by sources as CIA officers, had been involved in the operation.<\/p>\n
“What we told (the U.S.) was that the federal government didn’t know about the involvement of these people (in the operation) and we \u200chope that it’s an exception,” Sheinbaum said \u2060in her daily morning press conference.<\/p>\n
Mexico requested that “our constitution and national security law should be followed,” Sheinbaum said, adding the U.S. had indicated its agreement.<\/p>\n
The presence of U.S. personnel in \u2060anti-cartel operations is a deeply sensitive matter in Mexico. Sheinbaum has long maintained that she welcomes intelligence sharing and security cooperation but will not accept U.S. agents or forces participating in operations on Mexican territory.<\/p>\n
In contrast, U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly \u200bcalled \u200bfor greater use of U.S. military force to combat Mexican \u200bcartels, and has threatened that the U.S. could \u200cgo it alone if Washington feels Mexico isn’t doing enough.<\/p>\n
CONFLICTING INFORMATION<\/p>\n
On Saturday, Mexico’s security cabinet said in a statement that the U.S. officials lacked formal accreditation to participate in security activities in Mexico and that one of them had entered the country as a tourist.<\/p>\n
The day after the crash, Jauregui had said the U.S. officials did not take part in the lab raid, but instead were later picked up by Mexican personnel involved in the operation at a \u200cseparate location. They were being driven to the state capital when the \u200baccident occurred, Jauregui said.<\/p>\n
However, Jauregui said on Monday he had provided \u200bconflicting information, although he did not offer specifics \u200babout which details had been incorrect.<\/p>\n
“Regarding the events that have come to light around the \u200cpresence of individuals who identified themselves as alleged foreign \u200bofficials, the information we initially \u200bhad – and which I shared with the public – was inconsistent,” he said in a statement issued by the Chihuahua Attorney General’s office, and which Jauregui read out at a press conference.<\/p>\n
“There were omissions both in \u200bthe information and in the institutional handling \u200cof points of contact with those individuals.” He added he hoped his resignation would allow authorities \u200bto “restore public trust.”<\/p>\n
(Reporting by Raul Cortes, additional reporting by Lizbeth Diaz and Daina Beth Solomon; writing \u200bby Kylie Madry; editing by Stephen Eisenhammer and Neil Fullick)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n