SAN SALVADOR: Salvadoran leader Nayib Bukele said Friday he appreciated Mexico’s “clarification” that a cocaine-packed plane it intercepted did not in fact originate in El Salvador, a claim that had hiked diplomatic tensions between the nations.Earlier in the week, Mexico’s security chief said authorities had detected a small plane “originating in El Salvador” carrying 428 kilos (940 pounds) of cocaine. Bukele called the claim “FALSE,” recalled his ambassador to Mexico for consultations and demanded “rectification” from the Mexican government.On Friday, he posted on X what appeared to be a letter from Mexico’s foreign affairs ministry, outlining in red one paragraph.“The Ministry regrets the events of July 8 and states that there is no evidence that the flight of said aircraft originated in El Salvador,” or that any El Salvadoran was involved, the letter said.Mexican security secretary Omar Garcia Harfuch hastened the same day to clarify that the aircraft had been detected in El Salvador’s airspace.Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum weighed in Thursday, saying, “There’s no need to turn this into a political issue.” Central America is a gateway for cocaine sent from South American cartels to the United States, the world’s largest consumer of the drug. “El Salvador does not hide criminals or tolerate drug trafficking. We didn’t do it before, and we won’t do it now. Nor will we allow them to try to involve us in operations that don’t concern us or belong to us,” Bukele said at the height of the flap, on Wednesday.Bukele is widely popular for his war on gangs, which has reduced violence in his country to historic lows, but he has drawn criticism for restricting freedoms and allowing mass arrests without a warrant.
