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Corruption: A Stick Used to Attack Mexico

The decision by a former official from the former governor of Sinaloa—a member of the same party as President Claudia Sheinbaum—to voluntarily surrender to U.S. authorities to face accusations of ties to organized crime has led to a growing crisis of distrust in bilateral relations.

“No person who is dishonest or dishonorable can hide under the banner of the Fourth Transformation,” said President Claudia Sheinbaum this week. But amid the tensions the country is facing with the United States, the president also emphasized that “nothing is going to take this transformation away from the people of Mexico…. No foreign government is going to take the transformation away from the people of Mexico.”

For Mexicans, the current round of conflict between the two countries did not begin with these accusations, but with the deaths of two Central Intelligence Agency agents in the state of Chihuahua a month ago during a counternarcotics operation. The federal government stated that it was unaware the CIA was operating on the ground alongside state security agents, and accused the state governor and the CIA of acting in violation of the Constitution.

Many in Mexico see the decision to publicly reveal the charges against the governor in Sinaloa as retaliation for Mexico’s criticism of the Central Intelligence Agency’s involvement in Chihuahua. Although the government of Donald Trump has demanded that its agents participate directly in counternarcotics operations in Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum has maintained that this will never happen since it violates the Constitution. She argues that the deaths of the two agents therefore threaten to further undermine cooperation.

Corruption has long been Mexico’s Achilles’ heel, and the governments of the “Fourth Transformation” have pledged to confront it at every level. However, it remains to be proven that the politicians accused by Washington are linked to drug trafficking. After the U.S. government requested the extradition of the then-governor of Sinaloa, Rubén Rocha, and nine of his associates—including the person who has already surrendered to U.S. authorities—over alleged ties to drug traffickers, Claudia Sheinbaum stated that there is not enough evidence to grant the request.

Columnist Julio Hernández pointed out that the former Mexican official who appeared before a court in the United States is a former general who could become a cooperating witness for U.S. authorities: “the general’s capitulation would deal a blow to the armed forces and to the Mexican government as a whole.”

The Mexican government argues that there is no reciprocity on Washington’s part, noting that of the 269 extradition requests Mexico has submitted to the U.S. government between January 1, 2018, and May 13 of this year, not a single one has resulted in the transfer of the accused person to Mexico. “If there is reciprocity, why haven’t they handed over any of them, as these are important cases?” Claudia Sheinbaum asked.

The Trump administration’s response to Mexico’s decision not to extradite Rocha has been to intensify pressure. Last week, the United States Department of Justice issued instructions to triple the number of cases against Mexican officials allegedly linked to narco-corruption, while now classifying the offense as “terrorism.”

At the same time, the supposed anti-corruption campaign in Mexico led by the United States has raised doubts since a wide range of experts, politicians, and government watchdog organizations in the U.S. have described the self-proclaimed “judge”—the government of Donald Trump—as among the most corrupt in modern American history.

“At this moment, the entire judicial, diplomatic, and media deployment has the appearance of an operation orchestrated to destabilize the Mexican government and advance the neocolonial designs that President Donald Trump and his cabinet have openly expressed,” wrote La Jornada in an editorial. “With all these elements in view, it seems prudent to review the forms of security cooperation with Washington. As Trumpism itself repeatedly shows, continuing cooperation with current U.S. officials poses a threat to Mexico’s sovereignty and peace.”

*Reciprocity of the Powerful. Cartoon Fisgón*

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The Quote:
“The artist must speak about the reality in which they live; I believe it is a moral duty, although I do not judge those who do not do so… Silence and fear… are symptoms of the devaluation of democracy… The creator must speak plainly, openly, without hiding…. We are obligated to become a shield against monsters like Trump, Netanyahu, and Putin.”
—Pedro Almodovar in Cannes 2026.

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🎧 What We Are Listening To

Elena Poniatowska in Palabras Cruzadas

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Edited by David Brooks and Jim Cason in the United States, Tania Molina Ramírez in Mexico City, of La Jornada, and Elizabeth Coll in Tokyo, under the direction of Carmen Lira Saade and Guillermina Alvarez. More information.

United States: A Dangerous Collaboration