Despite the Justice Department’s dismissal of drug trafficking charges against Salvador Cienfuegos, the Lopez Obrador government has lost confidence in Washington’s cooperation. It remains determined to restrict U.S. agencies from operating in the country.
Enrique Peña Nieto and Salvador Cienfuegos at the military parade on September 16, 2018. Photo: Cuartoscuro.
Although the Justice Department dropped the drug trafficking charges against General Salvador Cienfuegos and returned to Mexico, Lopez Obrador’s government lost confidence in Washington’s cooperation. Security, combating drug trafficking and remains determined to restrict U.S. security and intelligence agencies’ operations in the country, say three important officials are working at the National Palace. They also comment that the evidence against Cienfuegos sent by the United States does not seem solid enough to charge general crimes.
WASHINGTON D.C. (Proceso) – Given the loss of confidence with the United States in cooperation on security and the fight against drug trafficking due to the case of General Salvador Cienfuegos, the framework for the operation in Mexico of the DEA, the FBI, the CIA, the ICE, and other U.S. agencies will be restricted, according to officials of the government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
Research to Cienfuegos will be “at the height of Mexico’s prestige” – Ebrard.
The fact that the U.S. Department of Justice did not share with the government of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador that the former Secretary of National Defense (Sedena) was the subject of an investigation under Operation Godfather opened a crack in the bilateral relationship.
“After the arrest of General Cienfuegos at the Los Angeles airport and the fact that we conveyed our position, the attorney general, William Barr, proposed going to Mexico to have a meeting, but we said that it was not the time,” one of the sources tells Proceso.
Because it was a “sensitive issue,” the official asked not to reveal his identity. Under that agreement added: “Barr did not expect a refusal to his proposal to travel to Mexico City.”
The annoyance of AMLO’s government over the arrest of Cienfuegos in California last October 15, accused by the DEA of drug trafficking and money laundering, was transmitted to Barr the day after the capture.
“Barr spoke of going to Mexico accompanied by the (interim) administrator of the DEA, Timothy Shea, and the response of the government of President López Obrador was to wait until the conclusion of his (November 3) presidential elections,” the official adds.
Joe Biden’s triumph over President Donald Trump buried Barr’s request to travel to meet with Attorney General Alejandro Gertz Manero and Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard.
Bilateral Cooperation
The secrecy with which the DEA and the Department of Justice handled Operation Godfather led to an incision in bilateral cooperation in security and the fight against drug trafficking. After the arrest and prosecution of Cienfuegos, President Lopez Obrador decided to review cooperation with DEA and other U.S. agencies, as published in Proceso in its 2295th edition on October 25.
“It will no longer be anything like this,” says another senior official in President López Obrador’s circle of advisors, who, like his colleague, was authorized to speak with this weekly on the condition that he not be cited by name or position in the government.
“The resignation of General Cienfuegos from prosecution in New York was almost immediate when we informed the Department of Justice that we would be changing our relationship with the DEA and all other intelligence and security agencies working in Mexico,” the source stresses.
