Overview
- Ken Salazar writes in advance excerpts of his memoir that a confidant he calls “El Susurrador” told him in late August 2024 that former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador was “very worried” about information Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada might give to U.S. authorities.
- Those claims appear in previewed chapters published June 21–22, 2026 and are presented as Salazar’s account in a memoir rather than as findings from a court or an official investigation.
- The capture of Zambada on July 25, 2024, which also led to the arrest of Joaquín Guzmán López, surprised officials and is central to Salazar’s account of how relations with AMLO deteriorated.
- President Claudia Sheinbaum has said the main concern was possible U.S. participation in the operation and has called for caution until the full book is published, while the Fiscalía General de la República is coordinating with the U.S. Department of Justice on an ongoing investigation.
- Salazar links the episode to wider worries about cartel influence and judicial reform, and the revelations could deepen political scrutiny of past bilateral cooperation, shape prosecutorial inquiries, and influence public debate over sovereignty and institutional integrity.