This article by La Redacción originally appeared in the July 8, 2026 edition of La Jornada, Mexico’s premier left wing daily newspaper.
The former United States ambassador to Mexico, Ken Salazar, hit back at President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo after the president accused him of “lying” about the participation of US agents in the operation to detain Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada. “Allow me to answer you clearly: Attorney General Merrick Garland and I informed the Mexican government, in our public statements and on July 25 and 26, 2024, about the arrests of Ismael Zambada García and Joaquín Guzmán, that it was not our plane, nor our pilot, nor our operation. The truth is the truth,” the former official noted in a social media post.
Statement by Former Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar
President Claudia Sheinbaum has asked a question: who told the truth? Let me answer it plainly:
Attorney General Merrick Garland and I communicated to the Mexican government in our public statements and to the Mexican…
— Ken Salazar (@KenSalazar) July 8, 2026
During her morning press conference, the president referred to an interview with Salazar, in which he acknowledged that there was “no link” between the government of former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and the Sinaloa cartel, after “the government of Mexico was lied to” about the degree of involvement of US agencies in the arrests.
The proof of that, she stressed, “is the display of the plane that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) presents as if it had been the result of an operation” of its own. “What agreements did that agency, or whoever took part, have with the criminal group?” she insisted in remarks made yesterday in reference to the Sinaloa Cartel. “In this case, everything seems to indicate that the ambassador (Salazar) lied,” she noted.
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Mexico’s Attorney General: Ken Salazar Lied and the FBI Gave False Data; They Violated International Law in the Capture of El Mayo
July 8, 2026July 8, 2026
Prosecutor Ernestina Godoy says the FBI’s role in seizing ‘El Mayo’ broke Mexican and international law, and Washington has repeatedly supplied false data.
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Ken Salazar Says He Didn’t ‘Lie’ About the Capture of ‘El Mayo’; ‘It Wasn’t Our Plane or Our Operation’
July 8, 2026July 8, 2026
The former United States ambassador to Mexico hit back at President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo after the president accused him of “lying” about the participation of US agents in the operation to detain “El Mayo” Zambada.
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Liar, Liar, Ten-Gallon Hat on Fire – Soberanía 114
July 8, 2026July 8, 2026
In episode 114 of Soberanía, hosts José Luis Granados Ceja and Kurt Hackbarth cover a week of diplomatic scandals, World Cup drama, and economic news.
The post Ken Salazar Says He Didn’t ‘Lie’ About the Capture of ‘El Mayo’; ‘It Wasn’t Our Plane or Our Operation’ appeared first on Mexico Solidarity Media.
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“That’s not our plane.” - he says, pointing at the plane used to capture El Mayo, that the FBI gave to Mexico.
