Sheinbaum challenges DEA's Mexico messaging

Reporting and context

El Imparcial reports that President Claudia Sheinbaum questioned what she described as contradictory public messages from DEA Director Terrance Cole about Mexico. Sheinbaum was responding after Cole presented Mexico’s Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch at the International Conference for Drug Enforcement in Buenos Aires and called him a trusted partner and friend of the United States. According to the report, Cole also praised García Harfuch’s work on intelligence sharing, pursuing criminal leaders and disrupting criminal networks. Sheinbaum contrasted that message with Cole’s July remarks describing an alleged connection between cartel networks and the Mexican government. The president said Mexico would continue security cooperation with the United States, but under rules of sovereignty, shared responsibility and non-subordination. Sheinbaum said García Harfuch’s participation in Argentina was intended to present Mexico’s security strategy directly to other governments. The report also recalls her criticism of the U.S. arrest of former Defense Secretary Salvador Cienfuegos and her insistence that U.S. agencies operate in Mexico within the constitutional framework. The article describes a diplomatic dispute over public statements; it does not establish the earlier cartel-government allegation as fact. Cooperation remained open, according to the report.