In an official statement, the security cabinet recalled that "Mexican law is clear — it does not permit the participation of foreign agents in operations on national territory." At the same time, it affirmed a "close, serious and respectful relationship" with the American government, while stressing the need for "absolute respect" for Mexican sovereignty. Fortune ↗
Sheinbaum sends a letter to all governors
President Claudia Sheinbaum announced that the government is reviewing the actions of the state of Chihuahua and considering sanctions. Security Minister Omar García Harfuch requested information from Chihuahua Governor María Eugenia Campos. "No agents from any American government institution can operate in Mexican territory," Sheinbaum declared. CBS News ↗At the same time, she sent a formal letter to all governors of Mexican states. In it, she recalls that any security cooperation with foreign agencies must take place through federal channels — specifically the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the security cabinet. "They must respect the law, no matter what, because sovereignty is not up for negotiation," she stated. Latin Times ↗
What independent reports claim
Mexican media, including El Diario de Chihuahua, El Imparcial and La Silla Rota, reported that the bodies returned to the American consulate in Ciudad Juárez were identified as Richard Leiter Johnston III (36) and John Dudley Black (44). However, authorities have not officially confirmed their affiliation with the CIA. According to the state prosecutor, they were in the city of Polanco as drone-operation instructors, and on the day of the incident they had a planned departure from the city of Chihuahua. El Diario de Chihuahua ↗Mexican investigative journalist Luis Chaparro claims on his channel Pie de Nota that there were in fact four agents, not two — two died, while the other two survived. According to him, the unit belongs to the CIA's Directorate of Operations, based in Monterrey, Nuevo León. According to Chaparro, this is the same unit that helped locate CJNG cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as "El Mencho," in the city of Tapalpa. Latin Times — Chaparro ↗
Steve Fisher, in a report for KTEP / Puente News Collaborative and the Los Angeles Times, citing his own anonymous sources, states that Sunday's raid was at least the third such CIA involvement in Chihuahua this year. During the operations, the agents wore uniforms of the Mexican State Investigative Agency (AEI) in order to blend in with locals. Neither Mexican nor American authorities have officially confirmed any of this information. KTEP / Steve Fisher ↗
Washington sticks to a general formulation
U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ronald Johnson continues to insist on the original formulation — that the deceased were "embassy personnel" — and after their deaths added a sentence that resonated in Mexico: their deaths "strengthen our resolve to continue their mission." Several American media outlets, including AP, CBS News and the Washington Post, citing anonymous sources, reported that both belonged to the CIA; the agency itself has not commented. Al Jazeera ↗Neither the White House nor Trump personally has commented on the incident so far — even though Trump had publicly mused in previous months about American military action against cartels on Mexican soil. Washington Times ↗
A shift from last week
Following her initial statements on April 21 and 22, Sheinbaum had confined herself to noting that the federal government had not been informed. Saturday's statement from the security cabinet shifts the debate from the political to the legal plane: according to immigration records, neither agent held accreditation for operational activity, which raises the question of a possible violation of Mexican rules governing the operation of foreign agents. Al Jazeera ↗Read also: Two Americans linked to the CIA died in Mexico during an anti-drug operation. Claudia Sheinbaum did not know about it
