Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Joe Biden, presidents of Mexico and the United States.
Photo: ALFREDO ESTRELLA, SAUL LOEB / AFP / Getty Images
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 agreement and the fight against organized crime with the Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
The Biden Administration, however, did not give a start date for the program or details of what the actions will be like or how many officers will be deployed, although it acknowledged that This operation is in reciprocity to the Mexican authorities for allowing US agents in that country.
“We appreciate that Mexico allows the deployment of our law enforcement agents to collaborate with Mexican authorities,” said a spokesman for the White House National Security Council. “We are pleased to host Mexican criminal justice officers to work with us and 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 Mérida Initiative.
“Protecting the citizens of our nation is the most important thing we do and we do it better together,” it said. “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, did not give details or that the agreement had been confirmed.
For several more months, both governments negotiated to maintain the deployment of DEA agents and other officials intelligence 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 government Donald Trump With whose administration the Mexican president negotiated the return to Mexico of the soldier, who was later 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 it is not his priority to stop cartel leaders, 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 need recruits on the ground,” the Biden Administration said.
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 Security Council of the United Nations, where an agreement promoted by Mexican authorities was signed last November.
eldiariony.com
Eddie is an Australian news reporter with over 9 years in the industry and has published on Forbes and tech crunch.