Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Tuesday publicly rebuked U.S. Ambassador Ronald Johnson for recent social media posts touching on Mexico’s domestic politics, telling reporters at her morning news conference that foreign diplomats should confine their activities to coordination and bilateral cooperation.
“Mexico’s affairs belong to Mexicans,” Sheinbaum said, referring to a message Johnson posted Monday on the social media platform X. In that post, the ambassador called for an end to the politicization of the fight against organized crime, arguing that political disputes undermine efforts to strengthen shared border security. “The fight against cartels should unite us, not divide us,” Johnson wrote. “People on both sides of our border want to live safely and in peace. They deserve freedom from the intimidation, corruption and fear that the cartels inflict.”
Sheinbaum said ambassadors accredited to a country should limit their activities to coordination and cooperation on the bilateral agenda and avoid involvement in the internal political affairs of the countries where they serve. Citing Mexico’s constitutional principles of nonintervention and self-determination, she argued that Mexican diplomats abroad do not comment on the domestic politics of other countries and called for the same level of reciprocity.
The ambassador’s message followed an event led by Sheinbaum on Sunday at Mexico City’s Monument to the Revolution, where she defended national sovereignty and criticized what she described as U.S. actions that constitute interference in Mexico’s internal affairs. On Monday, Sheinbaum went further, alleging that far-right groups in the United States were coordinating with domestic organizations to attack her administration and escalating her criticism of Washington.
The exchange is the latest in a series of escalating diplomatic tensions between the two countries over the past several weeks. In late April, the U.S. Department of Justice formally charged Sinaloa Gov. Ruben Rocha Moya and nine close associates in New York, accusing them of accepting bribes from the Sinaloa Cartel in exchange for protection of drug trafficking operations. The allegations prompted Rocha Moya to take a leave of absence as Washington pursued provisional detention requests for extradition purposes and was granted a 60-day period to submit supporting evidence.
Sheinbaum strongly criticized the U.S. action at the time, describing it as an infringement on Mexico’s sovereignty and arguing that the case file submitted by U.S. authorities lacked sufficient evidence.
Despite the tensions, Sheinbaum acknowledged that violence linked to organized crime is a shared challenge affecting both countries and restated Mexico’s willingness to cooperate with the United States on security matters and efforts to combat criminal organizations.
“We seek collaboration and coordination so that we can move forward together,” Sheinbaum said. “They should act in their territory and we will act in ours.”