MEXICO CITY — Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Monday that Washington has repeatedly asked to take part in operations against cartels inside Mexico, and that her government has always refused. “They have requested it on several occasions and we have always said no,” she told her morning mañanera press conference. Her remarks came days after The New York Times reported growing U.S. pressure for joint operations ahead of the U.S. midterm elections on November 3.

Mexico is open to coordination and intelligence sharing, but not to foreign forces operating on its territory, says Sheinbaum. “If they have information, they provide it and Mexican forces carry out the actions,” she said, according to Infobae.

Any U.S. equipment or support would come “at Mexico’s request and never with U.S. forces operating on national territory,” she added. She said all cooperation must follow Mexico’s National Security Law, its Constitution and the bilateral security understanding.

Sheinbaum’s stated principle is “coordination without subordination.”

Sheinbaum is rejecting U.S. ground forces operating in Mexico “as was done in the Calderón era,” a reference to the 2006–2012 government of Felipe Calderón, and said the U.S. “knows it.”

Asked whether the pressure is tied to U.S. elections, she said: “It’s nothing new,” adding that the U.S. has asked for this since the start of Trump’s term. She described security cooperation as “very good” with “many results.”

She also pointed to existing arrangements, including “mirror operations” along the border. In these, U.S. agents patrol on their side of the wall while Mexican forces watch from theirs, Infobae reported.

The New York Times Report

The Times reported October 24 that the Trump administration recently gave Mexican authorities a memo proposing that U.S. security personnel accompany anti-cartel operations on Mexican soil and that intelligence sharing be expanded, according to Aristegui Noticias and La Política Online, which summarize the report.

The Times, citing “unnamed” Mexican and U.S. officials, said the administration wants a visible security win before the midterms, with Republicans worried about inflation and gasoline prices. It described the memo as one of Washington’s most forceful attempts to place U.S. personnel in Mexican operations.

A White House spokesperson, Lauren Bis, told the Times it is “unacceptable” for criminal groups to control large regions of Mexico, according to the same reports.

The Times reported that many U.S. security officials believe Mexican forces are cooperating with Washington at their highest level ever. It also reported that U.S. and Mexican officials fear unilateral action could disrupt that cooperation, trigger more cartel violence and cause a migration crisis.

Pressure eased briefly after a major trafficker was killed in a Mexican operation in February, partly supported by U.S. intelligence.

Trade & Security Overlap

Infobae reports that Washington has used tariffs and the USMCA review as leverage on security. Sheinbaum said trade talks with the U.S. show progress, but no final agreement on auto and steel tariffs. She asked people to wait for the results.

Mexico’s government says homicides have fallen about 45% in the daily rate between 2024 and the first quarter of 2026.

The debate comes after a Chihuahua-CIA linked scandal in which former state prosecutor César Jáuregui Moreno faces treason charges by the Mexican state for allowing four CIA personnel to take part in destroying a drug lab in Morelos municipality. An incident during the operation killed two foreign agents and two Mexican officials, including state investigation agency director Pedro Oseguera.

Mexican authorities said the U.S. agents did not have permission.