Mexico has formally asked the United States to hand over evidence of a cross-border shooting that allegedly targeted U.S. security personnel, after Washington sent roughly 500 soldiers to the Rio Grande Valley last week amid reports of cartel violence.
At her daily news conference on Monday, President Claudia Sheinbaum said American officials had reported “shots from the Mexican border.” “We asked for all the evidence because we have no evidence,” she said, according to the Miami Herald.
Ms. Sheinbaum also voiced concern that U.S. officials were overstepping the norms that govern security cooperation between the two countries, a complaint she raised without offering detail on which officials she meant.
Newsweek confirmed the operation on Friday: hundreds of troops sent to the Rio Grande amid continuing reports of cartel violence. Coast Guard, Customs and Border Protection and the Texas Military Department were among the agencies contacted about the deployment.
Mexico said it had matched the move on its own side. The Foreign Ministry and the Navy, responding to the deployment of about 500 U.S. soldiers, said Mexico had sent 159 naval personnel, 11 vehicles and two drones to the area, according to The Spokesman-Review.
Security has sat at the center of the relationship as the Trump administration pushes for harder action against the cartels while Mexico tries to keep trade talks with Washington on track. Ms. Sheinbaum has drawn her line publicly before, warning days before her third year in office where the United States may not cross.