Mexico City, Mexico — The former U.S. ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar has publicly responded to President Sheinbaum. On Thursday, Salazar responded to Sheinbaum regarding the El Mayo case saying “it was not our plane, our pilot, or our operation.”
Through social media, the former U.S. ambassador to Mexico said together with Attorney General Merrick Garland, they reported on the July 2024 the arrests.
His comments came after Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum questioned whether Salazar lied about the Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada case.
In his public comment Thursday, Salazar said they communicated to the Mexican government on the 2024 arrests of Zambada Garcia and Joaquín Guzmán.
“President Claudia Sheinbaum asked who told the truth? Let me answer clearly: Attorney General Merrick Garland and I communicated with the Mexican government, both in our public statements and on July 25 and 26, 2024, on the arrests of Zambada García and Joaquín Guzmán.
“We informed the Mexican government that it was not our plane, not our pilot and not our operation,” he wrote Thursday.
He then went on to promote his recently released book.
President Sheinbaum made her comment Thursday when presenting information on case. During her press conference, Sheinbaum questioned whether Salazar lied about these events.
During her July 7 morning press conference, she recalled that during the government of former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, he requested information from the United States embassy about the case of “El Mayo,” and the response from the then-American official “was that there had been no involvement of any United States agency.”
“(…) At that time, President López Obrador, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs , requested information from the United States embassy on how they left Mexico, and whether there was any involvement of any United States agency (…).
“This request for information was made on several occasions. The response from Ambassador Ken Salazar, publicly and directly, was that there had been no participation of any United States agency, however, in recent days we learned, through a news report that the plane in which these two people, members of organized crime, arrived is on display at a fair where the FBI is taking credit for this operation.
“So, from there the first question is: Who is lying? Who lied? Did Ambassador Ken Salazar lie?” Sheinbaum asked.
“Again: who lied or who is lying? Did Ambassador Ken Salazar lie? Because he also writes about it in his book,” she said.
