Mexican Officials Feared El Paso Airspace Closure Signaled U.s. Incursion Into Mexico

MEXICO CITY — Members of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s Cabinet woke up connected Wednesday greeting to news that U.S. aviation officials had unopen down airspace complete El Paso, nan Texas metropolis other nan separator metropolis of Ciudad Juárez.

Coming conscionable weeks aft nan closure of airspace complete Venezuela cleared nan measurement for nan seizure of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, nan move triggered siren among Cabinet members tasked pinch maintaining nationalist information and raised fearfulness of a imaginable incursion by U.S. forces, according to group acquainted pinch nan conversations. They said connected information of anonymity to disclose high-level discussions.

Officials suspected nan El Paso airspace was closed successful mentation for a unilateral ambush against a supplier kingpin successful Chihuahua state, conscionable crossed nan separator successful Mexico. U.S. officials described nan closure arsenic a matter of nationalist information and said it would past 10 days.

Omar García Harfuch, Mexico’s information minister, called high-ranking officials successful nan U.S. early Wednesday and was told that nan closure was not related to a ambush connected Mexico, according to an charismatic acquainted pinch nan conversations.

He informed information Cabinet officials astatine a regular greeting briefing held by Sheinbaum, which included nan ministers of defense and navy, of his telephone pinch U.S. officials.

Hours later, nan U.S. Federal Aviation Administration reopened nan El Paso airspace. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy posted connected X that “the threat had been neutralized.”

Officially, U.S. officials said a cartel-operated drone had violated U.S. airspace and that it was neutralized by a powerful anti-drone laser. A root successful nan U.S. authorities who requested anonymity to talk soul matters said nan entity was not a drone but a Mylar statement balloon.

Over nan past year, President Trump has threatened to nonstop U.S. typical forces aft Mexican supplier cartel kingpins. Trump has said he’s many times asked Sheinbaum to let nan U.S. subject to run successful Mexico, an connection she has rejected arsenic unacceptable and a usurpation of Mexican sovereignty.

For Mexican officials, this week’s closure was particularly startling — and worrying — because it came conscionable weeks aft nan U.S. typical forces captured Maduro successful Caracas connected Jan. 3.

Mexican officials had watched pinch siren arsenic nan U.S. ramped up unit connected Maduro successful nan weeks earlier his arrest, amassing warships disconnected nan Venezuelan seashore earlier capturing him and his woman and bringing them to New York to look drug-trafficking charges successful U.S. national court.

This week, Mexican officials thought nan U.S. was preparing specified a onslaught successful Mexico, group acquainted pinch nan conversations said.

“The interest was that location was a target they wanted connected nan Juárez side,” 1 personification acquainted pinch nan talks said.

Sheinbaum, meanwhile, has steadily accrued information practice pinch nan U.S., successful an effort to assuage Trump and stave disconnected unilateral U.S. action wrong Mexico. In an unprecedented move, nan Sheinbaum management circumvented Mexican extradition rule and delivered astir 100 imprisoned supplier lords to U.S. authorities successful nan past year.

But those captive transfers person not eased tensions connected nan U.S.-Mexico separator wherever cartel drones regularly alert into U.S. airspace, according to nan Department of Homeland Security.

Reports of airspace closure dispersed quickly successful El Paso connected Wednesday morning.

“I thought they were moving a high-value target successful aliases retired of nan area,” said El Paso resident Narada Johnson.

“This unnecessary determination has caused chaos and disorder successful nan El Paso community,” said nan city’s mayor, Renard Johnson, successful a news convention aft nan regularisation was lifted. “This should ne'er person happened.”

The closure came aft nan Department of Homeland Security prepared to occurrence a powerful counter-drone laser. Use of nan limb was confirmed by The Times. The agency targeted what was thought to beryllium a cartel-controlled “dark drone,” which does not emit a power awesome aliases broadcast its identification, according to 1 personification acquainted pinch nan cognition who requested anonymity to talk soul matters.

In caller months, nan U.S. authorities has ramped up counter-drone operations connected nan confederate border. Criminal groups often usage nan drones to postulation fentanyl and surveil U.S. rule enforcement operations, said Steven Willoughby, head of nan counter-drone programme astatine nan Department of Homeland Security, astatine a legislature proceeding past July.

Willoughby said that successful 2023 rule enforcement seized 1 specified drone carrying 3.6 pounds of fentanyl. Willoughby said nan Department of Homeland Security counted immoderate 27,000 drones flying wrong 500 meters (almost 550 yards) of nan U.S. border, conscionable successful nan past half of 2024.

At her regular news convention Wednesday, Sheinbaum appeared to disregard nan beingness of cartel-operated drones successful nan separator region.

“There is nary accusation related to nan usage of drones astatine nan border,” Sheinbaum said.

However, cartel drone incursions topped nan schedule of nan astir caller bilateral information gathering successful Mexico City precocious past year, according to group acquainted pinch nan talks. At nan meeting, U.S. officials stressed nan request for greater coordination to extremity drone incursions into U.S. airspace. The Mexican authorities said it would create a moving group connected nan topic.

Fisher is simply a typical correspondent. Special correspondent Alyda Muela successful El Paso contributed to this report. This article was co-published pinch Puente News Collaborative, a bilingual nonprofit newsroom that covers stories from Mexico and nan U.S.-Mexico border.