Sheinbaum calls NYT report on CIA’s alleged bargain with Chihuahua prosecutor ‘very interesting’: Wednesday’s mañanera recapped

Sheinbaum’s mañanera in 60 seconds 📰 NYT report spotlights ex-prosecutor who allegedly partnered with CIA: Sheinbaum called the Times article on Guillermo Zuany Portillo, a former special prosecutor in Chihuahua, “very interesting.” The report says Zuany’s revoked U.S. visa was reinstated after he helped CIA officers train state forces and join missions. Security Minister Omar García Harfuch said Tuesday that both the FGR and the Chihuahua Attorney General’s Office have outstanding arrest warrants for Zuany. ⚖️ “It’s illegal because it violates the National Security Law”: Sheinbaum said her government flagged the CIA’s participation in an April drug lab raid in Chihuahua as illegal as soon as it found out about it. Former Chihuahua attorney general César Jáuregui was detained last month on a treason charge. She said any collaboration with foreign agencies must respect the Constitution and the National Security Law, and that “in this case, [the law] wasn’t obeyed.” 🏥 IMSS Bienestar doctor’s appointments up 55% since 2023: Director Alejandro Svarch said the public healthcare service for people without social security is on track to provide 58.3 million free consultations this year, up from 37.3 million in 2023. Specialist appointments are projected to rise 105%. 📈 Opposition-governed states lag: Svarch said “general consultations” rose just 4% between 2023 and 2026 in the eight states that haven’t joined IMSS Bienestar, which operates in 24 of 32 federal entities, while specialist appointments are forecast to rise 27%. “It’s the same country, the same period, but you can see the results are vastly different,” he said. Why today’s mañanera matters At her Wednesday morning press conference, President Sheinbaum responded to a New York Times report headlined “The Man Who Helped the C.I.A. Secretly Operate in Mexico.” Published on Tuesday, the article focuses on Guillermo Zuany Portillo, a former special prosecutor in Chihuahua, the state where U.S. Central Intelligence Agency officers allegedly participated in a drug lab raid in April without the authorization or knowledge of the Mexican government. Two CIA agents and two Chihuahua police officials died in a car accident after the raid, a tragedy that helped bring the CIA’s presence in the state to light. 2 US embassy employees and 2 Chihuahua officials killed in car accident following anti-cartel operation The New York Times report states that “[w]hen the Central Intelligence Agency was looking to quietly expand its operations in Mexico last year, it found an especially useful partner.” “… To the C.I.A., Guillermo Zuany Portillo, a prosecutor and former police commander in the border state of Chihuahua, offered a different kind of partnership,” the report says. “He could pair C.I.A. officers with Mexican police units on counter-cartel operations — and he was in a bind that made him uniquely cooperative, Mexican and U.S. officials said.” That bind, according to the Times, was that Zuany’s U.S. visa had been revoked “because of his suspected ties to the very cartels the C.I.A. wanted to root out.” The Times reported that Zuany’s visa was reinstated after he “shepherded C.I.A. officers as they trained Chihuahua State forces, joined those forces on certain missions and provided expertise during ground operations” during a period of more than six months. Beyond Sheinbaum’s response to the New York Times report, another notable topic at today’s mañanera was the performance of IMSS Bienestar, Mexico’s public healthcare service for people without social security coverage through institutions such as the Mexican Social Security Institute, or IMSS, and the State Workers’ Social Security Institute, or ISSSTE. The IMSS Bienestar scheme was established by the previous federal government and now operates in 24 of Mexico’s 32 federal entities. Eight states have opted against signing onto the scheme. Those states — Nuevo León, Coahuila, Durango, Jalisco, Querétaro, Aguascalientes, Chihuahua and Guanajuato — are all governed by opposition parties, rather than by Morena, Mexico’s ruling party. NYT report ‘very interesting,’ says Sheinbaum A reporter raised the New York Times report about Zuany, noting that it quotes the former prosecutor as saying that Chihuahua Governor Maru Campos was aware of the CIA’s presence in the northern border state, something that Campos denies. Sheinbaum, who has previously been critical of the Times’ reporting on Mexico, said she read the report and described it as “very interesting.” 🇲🇽#México | Claudia Sheinbaum se refirió al reportaje de The New York Times sobre la presunta facilitación de operaciones de la CIA por parte de Guillermo Zuany, fiscal especializado de Chihuahua. La presidenta calificó la publicación como “muy interesante” y sostuvo que los agentes estadounidenses deben apegarse a la Ley de Seguridad Nacional. “En este caso no se respetó”, afirmó. #ClaudiaSheinbaum #Chihuahua #CIA #SeguridadNacional 🌐 Consulta #ElPortalDeÁngulo7 ➡️ https://t.co/14SVC19UGG — Ángulo7 Noticias (@angulosiete) November 11, 2026 She subsequently noted that the former attorney general of Chihuahua, César Jáuregui, was arrested in connection with the CIA’s presence in the state. Jáuregui, who was detained by federal authorities on a treason charge last month, is accused of allowing CIA officers to participate in the drug lab raid in Chihuahua in April without authorization from the Mexican government. Sheinbaum said that the Federal Attorney General’s Office (FGR) has to continue its investigation of the case. Security Minister Omar García Harfuch said on Tuesday that both the FGR and the Chihuahua Attorney General’s Office have outstanding warrants for the arrest of Zuany. Sheinbaum said that Zuany’s alleged conduct is “very relevant” to investigations into the CIA’s presence in Chihuahua. “It’s worth learning about who this person is and how he collaborated with one of the U.S. agencies,” she said. Although the New York Times report states that CIA officers joined Chihuahua state forces “on certain missions” and that the CIA “began working” with Zuany “around 2025,” Sheinbaum asserted that “the article doesn’t say that there were operations [with the CIA] since 2025.” “It says there was [CIA] presence,” she said. Sheinbaum highlighted that her government pointed out that the CIA’s participation in the drug lab raid in Chihuahua was illegal as soon as it found out about it. “It’s illegal because it violates the National Security Law,” she said. “And the Federal Attorney General’s Office opened an investigation,” Sheinbaum added. “Today, the [former] attorney general of Chihuahua is detained for this reason. The important thing is that … any collaboration [with foreign authorities] has to guarantee respect for the [Mexican] Constitution and the National Security Law,” she said. “Any agent from a U.S. agency in Mexico has to comply with the National Security Law,” Sheinbaum said. “In this case, [the law] wasn’t obeyed,” she said. IMSS Bienestar chief reports sharp increase in doctor’s appointments At the start of his presentation, IMSS Bienestar director Alejandro Svarch said that “for decades, where a person was born and the job they held determined the range of medical care they were able to receive.” “Three years ago, IMSS Bienestar began transforming this reality,” he said. “Today we are the largest network of public health services in our country and above all we’re an institute that is achieving results,” Svarch said. He went on to report that the number of medical consultations provided by IMSS Bienestar is projected to increase 55% this year compared to 2023. IMSS Bienestar is on track to provide 58.3 million free doctor’s appointments this year, according to the data presented by Svarch, up from 37.3 million in 2023. “That’s why we say the model works. The results are clear and compelling,” the IMSS Bienestar chief said. Svarch noted that IMSS Bienestar operates in 24 of Mexico’s 32 federal entities, while eight states have their own public healthcare systems for people without social security coverage. He reported that “general consultations” increased just 4% this year compared to 2023 in the eight states that haven’t signed on to IMSS Bienestar. “It’s the same country, the same period, but you can see the results are vastly different,” Svarch said. He also reported that the number of specialist doctor’s appointments provided by IMSS Bienestar is projected to rise 105% this year compared to 2023, while the increase over the same period in states where IMSS Bienestar doesn’t operate is forecast to be 27%. “These results are not the product of chance,” Svarch said. “They are the product of actions and a very specific implementation plan,” he said.