Chihuahua Attorney General Resigns Amid CIA Scandal; Sheinbaum Reaffirms Sovereignty Doctrine

Chihuahua State Attorney General César Jáuregui stepped down on April 26, 2026, as the political fallout from the unauthorized CIA operation deepened. The resignation came days after two CIA officers (Richard Leiter Johnston III and John Dudley Black) and two Chihuahua state police officials died in an April 19 vehicle crash during an operation against a methamphetamine laboratory — an operation the Mexican federal government said it knew nothing about. On the same day, President Sheinbaum issued a public statement reaffirming Mexico's bilateral security understanding with Washington: any intelligence operation on Mexican soil requires prior authorization under the National Security Law and respect for Mexico's constitutional sovereignty. Sheinbaum referenced the formal diplomatic note already being prepared for US Ambassador Ronald Johnson. The Mexican Senate had formally summoned Chihuahua Governor Maru Campos on April 23 to explain how US intelligence officers were embedded with her state security forces without federal knowledge; the hearing was set for late in the week. The CIA crisis — Mexico's most significant sovereignty confrontation with the US since the Calderón era — intersected with the Ebrard anti-corruption probe and preparations for the USMCA formal round, creating compounding pressure on the Sheinbaum government.