Mexico City, Mexico — President Andrés Manuel López Obrador says that while there is cooperation between Mexico and the U.S., they did not participate in the recapturing of El Chapo’s son earlier in the week.
On Friday, López Obrador clarified that no U.S. agency participated in the recapture of Ovidio Guzmán López. “We respect them, but we act autonomously, independently,” he said during his press conference Friday morning.
He also clarified that his arrest in no way coincides with the upcoming visit of U.S. President Joe Biden, who is scheduled to land in Mexico City next week.
This was the second time El Chapo’s son, Ovidio Guzmán López, has been taken into custody during the AMLO term. In 2019, Ovidio Guzmán was arrested in Culiacán, Sinalo, but later released due to anticipated violent backlash by the Sinaloa cartel.
After his January 5 arrest, Ovidio Guzmán was transferred to the Altiplano maximum security prison where he is waiting possible extradition to the U.S. where he has been wanted since 2019.
The Secretary of National Defense, Luis Cresencio Sandoval, reported that during this second arrest, 10 soldiers were killed and another 35 injured. During the January 5 clash between authorities and gang members, 21 belonging to the Sinaloa Cartel were arrested. He said that no civilian lives were lost.
