President Sheinbaum says Dead US Agents in Chihuahua Collaborating with State Authorities, No Conversation with US Ambassador

ByEmir Olivares and Alonso Urrutia

This article by Emir Olivares and Alonso Urrutia originally appeared in the April 21, 2026 edition of La Jornada, Mexico’s premier left wing daily newspaper.

President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo stated that she has information indicating that the two U.S. agents who died in a traffic accident in Chihuahua—following an operation against organized crime—were working in conjunction with state authorities.

“So far, the information we have is that they were indeed working together, let’s put it that way,” the President stated this morning at her press conference at the National Palace.

The head of the Executive Branch emphasized that if it is proven that US security personnel were collaborating in a joint operation with Chihuahua authorities, “there would obviously be a reprimand (to the government of that country), and a request that this not be the case, and that any activity carried out by US agencies in our territory must adhere to the national security law.”

She pointed out that so far —and despite her call yesterday for the state government to clarify the matter—, Governor Maru Campos (PAN) has not contacted her.

This came after he was asked if there was any information suggesting that the two individuals were agents of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) working in Mexico, as part of a strategy for a greater presence in the country, as reported by the US newspaper The Washington Post.

“We will provide more information as it becomes available. Yesterday, the Chihuahua Attorney General (César Jáuregui Moreno) changed his statement. We are investigating what these people were doing and which U.S. government agency they belonged to,” the governor responded.

President Sheinbaum added that the Constitution and the national security law state that the collaboration and presence of foreign agents must be authorized by the federal government, so this particular case “falls outside the scope of the coordination that exists so far (between Mexico and the United States) and explanations would have to be requested from the embassy and the state of Chihuahua.”

She stressed that the Attorney General’s Office must conduct a full investigation “to see if the Constitution or the national security law was violated,” and reiterated her demand that the Chihuahua government must make transparent all the “truthful” information it has about the collaboration with these U.S. agents and the tasks they carried out in a remote area of ​​the state.

President Sheinbaum met with US representatives, including ambassador Ronald Johnson (former Green Beret and CIA agent), yesterday.

When asked if she had spoken with the United States ambassador, Ronald Johnson, yesterday regarding this possible violation of national laws by his country’s personnel, the head of the Executive Branch stated:

“We just offered our condolences, the human side of the death, and we mentioned that the Secretary of Security and the cabinet would come later to talk with him, and in due course, I would talk with him.”