Mexico has asked the United States to provide evidence of an alleged cross-border shooting after Washington said shots had been fired from the Mexican side of the border towards US security personnel.
President Claudia Sheinbaum said Mexico’s National Guard, Army and Navy had detected no gunfire from Mexican territory towards the United States.
“We asked for all the evidence because we have no evidence,” she told her daily news conference on Monday.
The alleged incident was reported by Ronald Johnson, the US ambassador to Mexico, a day earlier. He said members of the US Coast Guard had been targeted in Texas, opposite the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, in late September.
“The U.S. Embassy in Mexico is helping coordinate with Mexican forces deploying to the border area where U.S. Coast Guardsmen were fired upon,” Mr Johnson wrote on X.
He said the threat would be “swiftly addressed” and added that the two countries intended to patrol both sides of the frontier to protect communities and make it harder for criminal and terrorist organisations to operate.
About 500 US troops, supported by helicopters, drones and anti-drone equipment, have been sent to the border since the alleged shooting.
Mexico has also deployed forces to the region under Operation Mirror, a joint operation intended to secure the frontier. Ms Sheinbaum said the Mexican deployment was designed “to forestall any issues” that might arise.
Mexico and US tensions over border security
The dispute comes amid repeated tensions between Ms Sheinbaum and Mr Johnson over border security and Mexico’s sovereignty. Ms Sheinbaum has accused the ambassador of exceeding diplomatic norms, while Mr Johnson has pressed the Mexican government to co-operate with demands from US President Donald Trump.
Mr Trump has repeatedly said he could authorise military strikes inside Mexico against cartels, which he has described as “running Mexico”. Ms Sheinbaum has warned that such an operation would violate Mexican sovereignty.
The Mexican president also criticised Mr Johnson on Monday for announcing the opening of an international police academy in the central state of Queretaro without informing her government.
“How can a groundbreaking ceremony take place with a US ambassador and a Mexican governor, but not with the federal security cabinet?” she said.
Under Mexico’s constitution, activities by foreign forces on Mexican soil must be approved by the federal government.
