U.S. asks Mexico to loosen agent curbs

MEXICO CITY — The new U.S. ambassador to Mexico, Ken Salazar, said Saturday that the United States has asked the Mexican government to allow agents, including those from the Drug Enforcement Administration, to work in Mexico.

Last year, Mexico pulled foreign agents’ immunity from prosecution and imposed strict limits on their contacts with their Mexican counterparts. Analysts say that inevitably affects the DEA’s ability to do intelligence gathering on Mexican drug cartels.

Since some DEA personnel are already in Mexico, it appears the U.S. request is for more to be allowed in, or for those there to be allowed to work more freely.

The United States has been inundated by fentanyl that is largely produced in Mexico using precursor chemicals from China. Salazar said Mexico has committed to fighting drug cartels under the new bilateral Bicentennial Framework for Security announced Friday to replace the Merida Initiative.

“We are going to have cooperation from the Mexican government; that was what was agreed upon yesterday, to make sure that law enforcement resources that we have functioning here in conjunction with Mexican law enforcement authorities have the ability to do so,” Salazar said in his first news conference since arriving in Mexico City in September.

“So yes, that includes our request, and we’re working this with the government on having the opportunity to again bring agents including our DEA agents, but we’re doing this in a way where we’re doing it in partnership with Mexico,” Salazar said.