CIA Sovereignty Crisis: Chihuahua Governor Maru Campos Declines Senate Hearing — 'Not Mandatory'; Senate Condemns 'Institutional Crisis'

Chihuahua Governor María Eugenia Campos Galván 'Maru Campos' did not attend the Mexican Senate hearing called for April 28, 2026 at 11:00 hours before the Constitutional Points and Public Security commissions, which had been formally convened to address CIA officers' participation in counter-narcotics raids without federal authorization. Maru Campos sent an official letter declining to appear, stating her absence was 'to not compromise ongoing investigations.' Her direct statement: 'No, we are not going to attend the Senate today because it is not mandatory. We answer to our people, not to the Senate.' Senate Political Coordination Board president Ignacio Mier condemned the no-show as an 'institutional crisis in Chihuahua' and Morena senators moved to escalate the confrontation. President Sheinbaum's reaction: 'The investigation must continue,' but declined to impose specific sanctions for non-attendance. BILATERAL CONTEXT: The hearing concerned the April 19-20 CIA vehicle crash in Chihuahua's Sierra Tarahumara that killed two CIA officers (Richard Leiter Johnston III, 36, and John Dudley Black, 44) along with Chihuahua State Investigation Agency chief Pedro Román Oseguera Cervantes and bodyguard Manuel Genaro Méndez Montes, during the CIA's third counter-narcotics operation against Sinaloa Cartel drug labs in Chihuahua this year. SIGNIFICANCE FOR CJNG TRACKER: The Senate's failure to obtain Maru Campos' testimony represents a constitutional deadlock on U.S. intelligence operations on Mexican soil — the same operational framework that enabled the Tapalpa operation killing El Mencho. Sheinbaum's April 24-25 governance reform letter to all 32 governors stands as executive policy but without legislative codification from the failed Senate hearing.