This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact The Epoch Times Reprints.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum present a new security strategy against violence for Michoacan state at the National Palace in Mexico City, Mexico, on Nov. 9, 2025. Claudia Rosel/AP Photo
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Jan. 19 that her government has received written assurance that there won’t be any U.S. military flights over Mexico.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Jan. 16 advised U.S. aircraft operators to proceed with caution over sections of the eastern Pacific Ocean adjacent to Mexico, Central America, and parts of South America, attributing the notice to ongoing military exercises.
Sheinbaum said her team held off on a public response for several hours until receiving formal written confirmation from U.S. authorities that no military aircraft would travel through Mexican airspace. She noted that Washington did not notify Mexico in advance about the operations.
U.S. officials subsequently shared the exact coordinates of their activity zones, prompting Mexican authorities to release a statement clarifying that the FAA alert carried no consequences for Mexico’s territory or operations.
Photographs then surfaced on social media showing a U.S. military cargo plane stationed at the airport in Toluca, Mexico, roughly 39 miles west of Mexico City.
In a Jan. 19 post on X, opposition lawmaker Sen. Clemente Castañeda Hoeflich from the Citizen Movement party demanded clarification from the Mexican government, noting that the Mexican Senate must authorize the entry of foreign forces or the deployment of Mexican troops overseas.
Sheinbaum said the plane’s presence was a routine logistical matter not subject to Senate oversight.
“The United States plane landed, public servants got on that plane and they went [to the United States] for training,” Sheinbaum said. “Who authorized this? The Secretary of Defense.”
Late on Jan. 18, Mexico’s security cabinet posted on X that these types of training exchanges “are carried out in accordance with the established protocols and in compliance with the bilateral collaboration agreements.”
The developments come amid heightened alert in Mexico after the U.S. military earlier this month captured former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife in Caracas, Venezuela, to face drug charges in New York City. The couple has pleaded not guilty.
Following their capture, U.S. President Donald Trump issued warnings to Mexico and other Latin American nations to address drug trafficking, which he said has led to many drug-related deaths in the United States.
Trump has described the cartels as “very strong” in Mexico and has offered to send troops multiple times. Sheinbaum has repeatedly declined such offers, ruling out U.S. military operations within Mexico’s borders.
Despite the friction, Sheinbaum reported that a constructive phone call with Trump last week focused on security matters.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has pressed Mexico for concrete results on fentanyl and border security, saying gradual progress is insufficient.
Kimberly Hayek is a reporter for The Epoch Times. She covers California news and has worked as an editor and on scene at the U.S.-Mexico border during the 2018 migrant caravan crisis.
