Sheinbaum’s mañanera in 60 seconds
- 🇺🇸 Sheinbaum outlines limits of U.S. security cooperation to Mullin: In a Thursday meeting with U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, Sheinbaum said she explained that Mexican law and the Constitution prohibit joint security operations on Mexican soil — a direct reference to last month’s unauthorized CIA participation in a Chihuahua drug lab raid. She described the bilateral relationship as one of “collaboration,” not “subordination,” and proposed more frequent security meetings to avoid future misunderstandings.
- 🇨🇺 President questions U.S. indictment of Raúl Castro: Sheinbaum pushed back on the U.S. Justice Department’s unsealing of a murder indictment against former Cuban President Raúl Castro, 94, over the 1996 shoot-down of two U.S.-based aircraft, asking why charges would be brought 30 years after the incident. A strong backer of Cuba, she has long been critical of U.S. policy toward the island.
- 🇪🇺 Mañanera preceded landmark EU trade summit: Today’s press conference took place before Sheinbaum welcomed European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and other European officials to the National Palace ahead of the signing of a modernized Mexico-EU trade agreement.
Why today’s mañanera matters
At her final press conference of the week, President Claudia Sheinbaum spoke about her meeting on Thursday with U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin. She revealed that she had told Mullin that Mexico’s legal framework prohibits U.S. involvement in security operations on Mexican soil.
The U.S. government is no doubt well-versed in what it can and can’t do in Mexico, but officers with the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency nevertheless participated in a drug lab raid with state forces in Chihuahua last month — without the knowledge or authorization of the Mexican government.
Recibimos en Palacio Nacional al Secretario del Departamento de Seguridad Interior de los Estados Unidos, Markwayne Mullin. Acordamos seguir colaborando conjuntamente en el marco de respeto de nuestros países. pic.twitter.com/qmqWGGTGCa
— Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo (@Claudiashein) May 21, 2026
Sheinbaum’s disclosure that she had explained the limits of bilateral security collaboration to Mullin came after she revealed late last month that Security Minister Omar García Harfuch had essentially read the riot act to Chihuahua Governor Maru Campos over the CIA’s participation in the security operation in the northern state. Campos asserts she didn’t authorize or have knowledge of the presence of the CIA in Chihuahua before last month’s operation took place.
Also of note at today’s mañanera was Sheinbaum’s questioning of the motivation of the U.S. indictment against Raúl Castro, which was unsealed this week.
Reuters reported that the indictment — which accuses Castro and Cuban military pilots of murder — “marks a new low in relations between the longtime Cold War rivals and comes as U.S. President Donald Trump is pushing for regime change in Cuba, where Castro’s communists have been in charge since his late brother Fidel Castro led a revolution in 1959.”
The BBC reported that the indictment “prompted immediate speculation that U.S. forces could launch an operation to capture … [Castro] and spirit him to an American courtroom,” as occurred with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January.
Sheinbaum says she explained Mexico’s laws to Mullin
Asked about her meeting on Thursday with Mullin, Sheinbaum said she made it clear that the security relationship between Mexico and the United States is one of “collaboration” and “coordination,” not “subordination.”
She said that Mullin recognized the work Mexico is doing to combat insecurity, and noted that she proposed that bilateral security meetings be held more frequently “so that there aren’t misunderstandings” and so that there is greater “monitoring” of the collaboration between the two countries.
Sheinbaum said that the next Mexico-U.S. security meeting will take place in June.
At the meeting on Thursday, she said that the Mexican government presented its “security results” and spoke about the ways in which Mexico and the U.S. are collaborating on security issues.
“And I also told [Mullin], with complete transparency, what our laws are and what our constitution is,” Sheinbaum said, adding that she explained that security cooperation between Mexico and the United has to take place within a “certain framework.”
She said she specifically told Mullin that Mexican laws and the Mexican Constitution don’t allow joint operations to take place on Mexican soil, as occurred in Chihuahua last month.
Sheinbaum and Rubio announce establishment of new bilateral security group
Sheinbaum said that the meeting with the Homeland Security secretary was “good,” telling reporters that Mexico and the United States “agreed to continue working [and] collaborating” within “the framework of respect.”
She said that Mullin didn’t make any specific requests beyond what is set out “in the agreement we reached in September, the understanding from September.”
Mexico and the United States announced the establishment of a high-level bilateral security group in September, and, at the same time, reaffirmed their commitment to cooperate on shared security challenges.
Sheinbaum questions US indictment against Raúl Castro
A reporter asked the president about the U.S. indictment against Raúl Castro, president of Cuba between 2008 and 2018.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Justice Department announced the unsealing of an indictment charging Castro, 94, and five Cuban fighter pilots “for their alleged roles in the Feb. 24, 1996 shoot‑down of two unarmed U.S. civilian aircraft operated by Brothers to the Rescue (BTTR), also known as Hermanos al Rescate, over international waters.”
Three U.S. citizens and a Cuban national were killed when the planes they were flying in were shot down.
Sheinbaum first said the incident occurred 15 years ago, before acknowledging that in fact it took place 30 years ago.
“What sense does it make to accuse someone now for something that happened 30 years ago?” she asked.
Sheinbaum is a strong supporter of Cuba and an outspoken critic of the U.S. embargo against the island nation that has been in place for over 60 years. The Mexican government has sent various shipments of humanitarian aid to Cuba this year as a U.S. blockade on oil shipments to the island has exacerbated the hardship faced by the Cuban people.
By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies (peter.davies@mexiconewsdaily.com)
