MEXICAN President Claudia Sheinbaum has denied a CNN report that the CIA was carrying out deadly operations in her country, accusing the news organisation of attempting to “hurt the government and the people of Mexico.”

CNN reported on Tuesday that the CIA had facilitated the targeted assassination of a member of the Sinaloa cartel on a highway outside Mexico City, fuelling outrage in Mexico. 

The New York Times later reported that Mexican forces had carried out the attack, with the CIA providing planning and support.

On Wednesday, Ms Sheinbaum branded the CNN report a “lie.”

Asked about the New York Times story during her morning press briefing, she dismissed it as “a fiction the size of the universe.”

CIA spokeswoman Liz Lyons also lambasted the CNN report, posting on X that “this is false and salacious reporting that serves as nothing more than a PR campaign for the cartels and puts American lives at risk.”

A CNN spokesperson said the CIA had been presented with details of the report prior to publication and had declined to comment, adding that the network stood by its reporting.

The New York Times also defended its reporting, with executive director of media relations and communications Charlie Stadtlander saying in an emailed statement that the publication “remains confident in the accuracy of what we reported.”