US, Mexico Pledge Joint Security Effort05/22 06:16

   

   MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum said that she and 
the U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin agreed Thursday to 
maintain bilateral cooperation rooted in mutual respect.

   Mullin arrived in the Mexican capital for a two-day visit following tensions 
in recent weeks over the deaths of two CIA agents at Mexico's northern border 
and U.S. drug trafficking indictments against 10 Mexican officials.

   Sheinbaum's administration, which took office in October 2024, has toed a 
fine line with the Trump administration as it has emphasized bilateral 
cooperation, while also maintaining Mexico's sovereignty in the face of threats 
of U.S. military intervention.

   After meeting with Mullin at the presidential palace, Sheinbaum shared a 
brief post on X saying that both nations will maintain cooperation based on 
mutual respect.

   The Mexican Foreign Ministry emphasized respect for sovereignty and 
"coordination without subordination" as some of the key principles agreed upon 
for cooperation, in a statement issued after the meeting.

   Mullin, who assumed the position in March after Kristi Noem's departure, 
also met with Mexico's Security Cabinet.

   Earlier Thursday, Sheinbaum said that she would also speak with Mullin about 
the 15 Mexican migrants who have died in U.S. Immigration and Customs 
Enforcement detention centers since 2025, which prompted diplomatic protests 
from her government. Sheinbaum has instructed consulates to make daily visits 
to the detention centers, and Mexico announced in March that it would bring the 
cases before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

   The foreign ministry in its Thursday statement emphasized the importance of 
cooperation on migration. It cited the successful reduction Mexican citizens 
crossing the border, which has reached a 50-year-low.

   The Mexican president also ruled out discussing the cases of the 10 indicted 
officials, some of whom belong to the governing Morena party, during her 
meeting with Mullin.

   In late April, the New York Attorney General's office indicted Sinaloa Gov. 
Rubn Rocha, Culiacan mayor Juan de Dios Gmez, and eight other active and 
retired officials on charges including drug trafficking and illegal possession 
of firearms.

   Rocha and Gmez temporarily stepped down from their posts to facilitate the 
investigation opened by Mexico's Attorney General's Office, while the former 
Sinaloa government officials, Gerardo Mrida and Enrique Daz, surrendered to 
U.S. authorities last week.

   Bilateral relations became strained after the deaths of two CIA agents on 
April 19, along with two officials from the Chihuahua Attorney General's 
Office, when the vehicle they were traveling in plunged into a ravine in the 
mountains between Chihuahua -- which borders Texas -- and the state of Sinaloa, 
where a clandestine synthetic drug lab had been dismantled.

   The incident prompted a formal protest from the Sheinbaum administration to 
Washington that it hadn't been informed of the presence of the two U.S. agents 
in Mexico, or of their activities in the opposition-governed state of Chihuahua.