MEXICO CITY (AP) 鈥� Mexican President on Wednesday denied a CNN report that the CIA was carrying out deadly operations in Mexican territory, accusing the U.S.-based news organization of attempting to 鈥渉urt the government and the people of Mexico.鈥�
CNN that the CIA facilitated a targeted assassination of a member of the Sinaloa cartel on a highway outside Mexico City, fueling a firestorm in Mexico. The that Mexican forces carried out the attack and the CIA provided planning and support.
Sheinbaum called the CNN report a 鈥渓ie.鈥� Asked about the New York Times report during her morning press briefing, she called it 鈥渁 fiction the size of the universe.鈥�
Liz Lyons, a spokesperson for the CIA, also lambasted the CNN report, posting on X that 鈥渢his is false and salacious reporting that serves as nothing more than a PR campaign for the cartels and puts American lives at risk.鈥�
CNN did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
While Sheinbaum’s mentor and predecessor, Andr茅s Manuel L贸pez Obrador, regularly attacked journalists in his morning news briefings, going as far as to dox critical reporters, Sheinbaum has taken a more measured tone in the face of criticism.
But the president has been plagued by scandals involving the United States in recent weeks as she comes under pressure to maintain a strong relationship with Washington in the face of renegotiating a free-trade agreement and threats by to take action on cartels.
Sheinbaum has underscored Mexico’s sovereignty, a narrative that increasingly has been questioned.
Last month, along with local Mexican investigators on their return from an anti-narcotics operation in the northern state of Chihuahua. Sheinbaum said she had no knowledge of the operation, and Mexican and U.S. authorities contradicted themselves for days.
A week later, a New York court charged Sinaloa’s governor 鈥� a high-ranking member of Sheinbaum’s party and ally of L贸pez Obrador 鈥� with drug trafficking and weapons offenses, accused of aiding in the massive importation of illicit narcotics into the U.S.
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