Sheinbaum will sue Ovidio's lawyer: "There's no dialogue with drug traffickers."

In a forceful political offensive, President Claudia Sheinbaum announced that she will file a defamation lawsuit against Ovidio Guzmán's lawyer. "I will sue... you don't engage in dialogue with a drug trafficker's lawyer," she declared, in a move that seeks to regain control of the narrative and evoke national sovereignty.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has launched an unprecedented legal and political offensive by announcing that she has instructed the Legal Counsel of the Presidency to initiate a defamation lawsuit against the lawyer for Ovidio Guzmán, son of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán. The decision, communicated with the lapidary phrase, "I will sue... you don't engage in dialogue with a drug trafficker's lawyer," marks a turning point in how her administration will confront accusations linking him to organized crime.

This action is not simply a legal response to slander; it is a calculated political strategy designed to neutralize one of the most toxic attacks in the Mexican political ecosystem: the accusation of "narco-politics."

Rather than adopting a defensive posture or ignoring the accusations, the President has opted for an aggressive counterattack. This strategy seeks to fundamentally change the question in the public debate. It is no longer a question of "Does the government have ties to drug trafficking?" but rather "Why is the opposition resorting to defamation?" It is a power move designed to wrest control of the narrative from her adversaries and position herself as a victim of slander who will not tolerate attacks on her integrity or that of her government.

By judicializing the conflict, Sheinbaum requires that any such accusation be proven in court, raising the cost of defamation and discouraging future smear campaigns based on rumors or innuendo.

What elevates this decision from a simple self-defense to a declaration of foreign policy principles is the unexpected connection the President herself made with a case emblematic of national sovereignty. Sheinbaum stated that the legal process will also serve to "clarify the case of General Cienfuegos, whom she considers innocent."

"The process will also serve to clarify the case of General Cienfuegos, whom she considers innocent." – Statement attributed to President Claudia Sheinbaum.

This reference is not accidental. The case of General Salvador Cienfuegos, the former Secretary of Defense detained in the United States and later repatriated to Mexico after intense diplomatic pressure, is a powerful symbol of Mexican nationalism and the perception of overreach by the U.S. judicial system.

By linking her personal lawsuit to the Cienfuegos case, the President is weaving a much broader and more powerful narrative. The implicit argument is this: "Just as the American justice system erred and unfairly attacked a pillar of our armed forces, now a lawyer within that same legal ecosystem is being used to attack me with defamation."

This play seeks to:

• Escalate the conflict: Transform a personal dispute into an issue of national sovereignty and dignity.
• Polarize the audience: Appeal to the nationalist sentiment of your support base and portray your critics as pawns of foreign interests.
• Generating an intense debate: Mentioning Cienfuegos ensures that the story dominates news cycles and generates a heated discussion on social media, diverting attention from the original accusation.

Sheinbaum's lawsuit is, therefore, a high-stakes political chess piece. She seeks not only to clear her name, but also to establish the rules of the game for the remainder of her six-year term: any attack that borders on "narco-politics" will be met not with defense, but with an all-out offensive that will invoke national pride and sovereignty.