The government of President Joe Biden confirmed to this newspaper that it will allow the deployment of Mexican intelligence agents in United States territory, as part of the new security and fight against organized crime agreement with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
The Biden Administration, however, did not give a start date for the program or details of how the actions will be carried out or how many officers will be deployed, although it acknowledged that this operation is in reciprocity with the Mexican authorities. for allowing US agents into that country.
“We appreciate that Mexico allows the deployment of our law enforcement agents to collaborate with the Mexican authorities,” said a spokesman for the White House National Security Council. “We are pleased to host Mexican criminal justice officials to work with us to penetrate criminal organizations in the United States.”
The Biden Administration also confirmed that this new strategy is part of the Bicentennial Understanding, which he referred to as the “framework”, which replaces the Merida Initiative.
“Protecting the citizens of our nation is the most important thing we do and we do it better together”, it was indicated. “We appreciate that, through the Bicentennial Framework, the López Obrador Administration has refocused Mexico on working closely with the US to combat all forms of transnational crime.”
The revelation of the deployment of agents was made by the Mexican ambassador to the US, Esteban Moctezuma, to the Mexican newspaper Milenio, however he did not give details or that the agreement had been confirmed.
For several months, both governments negotiated to maintain the deployment of DEA agents and other intelligence officers in Mexico , after President López Obrador questioned its transparency, as a result of the arrest of General Salvador Cienfuegos –accused of drug trafficking– during the Donald Trump government with whose administration the Mexican president negotiated the return to Mexico of the military man, whom he later He was released without charge in that country, amid criticism from prosecutors from the Department of Justice.
The Bicentennial Understanding, as it is known in Mexico, contemplates new ways of confronting organized crime, including attempts to tackle the root problem and prevent the integration of young people into criminal groups.
Although President López Obrador says that arresting cartel leaders is not his priority, for the US that remains a key point, after renewing its most wanted lists, including four sons of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, known as “Los Chapitos”, for whom $5 million dollars are offered for each one.
“To achieve our goals, both governments we need recruits in the field of action, ”said the Biden Administration.
Ambassador Moctezuma said that one of the objectives of the agents will be to reduce or stop arms trafficking, a priority issue for the López Obrador Administration, which has made progress with the Biden Administration and before the United Nations Security Council, where an agreement promoted by Mexican authorities was signed last November.