Mexico and the CIA: A love story

What almost a century of CIA presence in Mexico says about the death of two of its operatives.

It was an accident. It nevertheless revealed an uncomfortable truth. A car crash in the northern border state of Chihuahua tragically resulted in the deaths of four people. Two were Mexican state officials. The other two were confirmed to be CIA operatives, seemingly carrying out counter-narcotics work on Mexican soil without the federal government’s knowledge.

The focus has since shifted towards how the revelation puts president Claudia Sheinbaum in a bind. How should the president, who has repeatedly rejected US interference, react? Will pushback throw a spanner in bilateral relations in the midst of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement negotiations? Will a timid response inflame the passions of Mexico’s—and her party’s—nationalists?

These are not new questions. The Central Intelligence Agency—the United States’ foreign intelligence and covert action body—has a long history in Mexico. It has been a surprisingly cosy one.