US ambassador Ken Salazar has rejected claims that his country was responsible for the cartel violence shaking Mexico's Sinaloa state, after President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said the United States shared blame.
Mexico has seen a recent surge in cartel warfare since Sinaloa cartel leader Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada García landed in a small plane near El Paso, Texas on July 25 with Joaquín Guzmán López — a senior member of the Los Chapitos faction of the cartel, which rivals Mr Zambada's.
Upon landing in the US, Mr Zambada was arrested on charges of murder conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, and trafficking illegal drugs.
He later said in a letter circulated by his lawyer that he had been abducted by Mr Guzmán and taken to the US against his will.
Fighting between the factions broke out over the operation on September 9, and the resulting shootouts have disrupted daily life in Sinaloa capital Culiacán.
US rejects blame for Sinaloa violence
Mr Obrador said on Thursday the US was partly responsible for Culiacán's instability because they "carried out this operation", referencing surrender talks between US officials and Mr Guzmán.
The Mexican president, who is set to leave office at the end of the month, called the operation "illegal" and added "agents from the Department of Justice were waiting for Mr Mayo".
He insisted in his morning news briefing that there "cannot be a cooperative relationship if they take unilateral decisions" like this.
"If we are now facing instability and clashes in Sinaloa, it is because they [the US government] made that decision," he said.
He was echoed by president-elect Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, who said later in the day that "we can never accept that there is no communication or collaboration".
Mexican prosecutors have said they were considering bringing treason charges against those involved in the plan to nab Mr Zambada.
But the White House denies having planned the capture.
"When it is said that the United States, we, are responsible for what is happening in Sinaloa, in other places, well, I do not agree with that," Ambassador Salazar said from Ciudad Juárez on Friday.
"It is incomprehensible how the United States can be responsible for the massacres we see in different places [in Mexico], that is not the fault of the United States."
Mr Salazar has said no US resources or personnel were involved in the operation, claiming last month that American officials were surprised to discover Mr Zambada on US soil.
However, US officials have privately confirmed that they held talks with Mr Guzmán prior to the plane's landing.
At least 53 people killed as cartel factions clash
Some 53 people have been killed and 51 others declared missing in Sinaloa since September 9, local authorities said on Friday.
Schools have had to close on some days while restaurants and shops shuttered early.
"Where is the security for our children, for ourselves too, for all citizens? It's so dangerous here, you don't want to go outside," one Culiacán mother told AP.
The gruesome violence shows no signs of abating, with Mexico's military struggling to contain it.
Sinaloa Governor Rubén Rocha Moya said on Friday that more than 40 people have been arrested in recent days, while more than 5,000 food packages have been handed out across the state.
The military arrested the alleged head of security for Iván Archivaldo Guzmán Salazar — the leader of Los Chapitos — on Thursday.
Fernando Perez Medina — known as "El Piyi" — was captured in Culiacán, according to a federal security source.
Meanwhile, Mexico's Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection (PROFEPA) said it was providing resources to local authorities to feed a tigress tied to a tree. Senior Sinaloan narcos often keep tigers as pet animals.
PROFEPA said in a statement that vets in Sinaloa had declined to assist due to security fears, and it had provided military officials with a "cage, a dart rifle and darts". But the violence had prevented the military from rescuing it.
ABC/wires
