The diplomatic tensions between Mexico and El Salvador have intensified due to a misstatement by Mexico’s Security Minister, Omar García Harfuch, concerning the origins of an aircraft involved in a drug trafficking incident. During a press conference on Tuesday, García Harfuch mentioned that a plane carrying 428 kilograms of cocaine had “come from El Salvador” before landing in Tecomán, Colima. This aircraft and the drugs, with a value of approximately 96 million pesos (US $5.15 million), were subsequently seized, and three Mexican nationals were arrested.
In response, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele quickly refuted the claim through social media, labeling it as “FALSE” and providing evidence that the aircraft never flew through Salvadoran airspace. Bukele explained that the suspicious aircraft was reported by Costa Rica north of its territory on July 3, prompting a regional alert through the Central American air safety network, APAN.
Bukele requested an immediate clarification from the Mexican government and decided to recall El Salvador’s ambassador to Mexico for consultations regarding the issue.
García Harfuch, addressing the mix-up, stated on social media that Mexican authorities had initially detected the plane 200 kilometers south of San Salvador over the Pacific Ocean, a detail that aligns with a Security Ministry report from July 4. This addresses the previous erroneous claim, confirming the plane did not enter Salvadoran territory.
Despite this clarification, President Bukele insisted that García Harfuch’s statement still did not sufficiently admit the lack of evidence linking the aircraft’s journey to El Salvador. He emphasized that “there is not the slightest indication that this aircraft departed from our country.”
By Thursday afternoon, Mexican officials had not released any additional comments regarding the diplomatic incident.
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