Mexican President Stops Pentagon from Tracking ‘Asian’ Balloon Through Country’s Airspace

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador bragged that the Pentagon asked for permission to track an Asian balloon through Mexican Airspace and he denied it.

Lopez Obrador made the comments during one of his morning news conferences in Mexico City. He claimed to be standing up for Mexican sovereignty. As part of his rhetoric, AMLO has often claimed that he will not tolerate Mexico being subservient to the U.S. as they were in the past and will fight to keep its interventionism out of Mexico.

El presidente @lopezobrador_ informó que hace dos días El Pentágono de EE. UU. solicitó autorización a @SEDENAmx para sobrevolar el espacio aéreo mexicano e interceptar un globo proveniente de Asia, que ingresaría a territorio nacional por Manzanillo, Colima.

“La respuesta fue… pic.twitter.com/CMlhCq3Bwo

— Gobierno de México (@GobiernoMX) May 4, 2023

“(On Wednesday) they called from the Pentagon to (Mexican) Defense to ask for permission because they wanted to fly over our airspace with airplanes and drones of high technological military level because they had detected a balloon that came from Hawaii and was going to pass through Mexico,” Lopez Obrador said during his conference as he emphasized his stance on not allowing other nations to intervene in Mexican affairs. During his comments. AMLO used the term “from Asia” to describe the balloon but did not say specifically if it was Chinese.

Despite the request, Lopez Obrador said he did not allow the U.S. military to follow the balloon as it was about to enter Mexican airspace at 35,000 feet. Tracking indicated the balloon would enter Mexico through Manzanillo and exit through Tamaulipas.

“The response was no, we don’t allow the entry of those aircraft and those drones into our airspace,” Lopez Obrador said.

The Mexican president said that his country is willing to cooperate and that the U.S. could send the information to them. Mexico would do its own tracking operation using its own equipment. He added that some information was shared but that Mexico did not find anything.

It remains unclear where the balloon went after entering Mexican airspace. The AP reports that the U.S. government has since determined that it was not a Chinese aircraft.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com. 

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.