Claudia Sheinbaum, the president-elect of Mexico, confirmed that she did not invite the King of Spain to her inauguration because he did not respond to Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s request for an apology for the excesses committed during the Conquest. She acknowledged this in a letter published on Wednesday, in which she stated that she spoke with Pedro Sánchez by phone a couple of days ago to discuss the matter. “Regrettably, this letter did not merit any direct response, as would have corresponded to the best diplomatic practice,” writes the president-elect of Mexico. “Instead, part of the letter was leaked to the media and after that, the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a press release,” claims Sheinbaum, who will assume the presidency on October 1. “This circumstance has not been clarified nor has the Government of Mexico been responded to directly,” she adds. Despite the snub to Felipe VI, the next president assured that “Mexico and Spain share a solid relationship of friendship,” but said that “she would benefit from a renewed perspective.”
The Spanish government announced on Tuesday that it would not have representation “at any level” at the historic ceremony, which marks the arrival of a woman to the presidency of Mexico for the first time, describing the exclusion of Felipe VI as “unacceptable.” EL PAÍS reported hours earlier that the Royal Family had not received an invitation to the event in Mexico City. Sheinbaum said she would wait to give her response in order to explain her reasons in a written statement. The president-elect confirmed that the invitation was only sent to Sánchez, in his capacity as head of the Spanish government, last July. The president-elect’s team announced last week that 16 leaders were confirmed: 13 from Latin America and the Caribbean, and three from Africa.
“I trust that this circumstance, which today highlights our diversity of opinions, will also be a starting point for Mexico and Spain to soon find new avenues of understanding based on our sovereignty and mutual respect,” said Sheinbaum, in direct response to the statement from the Foreign Ministry in Spain. The president recalled that the Latin American country has been “a supportive ally and a generous destination” at critical moments in Spain’s history and hoped that “the full recognition of our identities will be the axis of a respectful, solid and fruitful relationship.”
Sheinbaum also cited an excerpt from the letter that López Obrador sent to the King in March 2019 to demand an apology for the Conquest and the colonial period. “Let the Kingdom of Spain publicly and officially express its recognition of the grievances caused,” reads the letter, published just three months after the start of his mandate. The request, however, received no response from La Zarzuela and Sánchez’s government “firmly” rejected its content. Relations at the highest level have cooled since then, despite the fact that there was no official break. Felipe VI, either as Monarch or Prince of Asturias, was at the inauguration of López Obrador in 2018, of Enrique Peña Nieto in 2012 and of Felipe Calderón in 2006. The last visit of the Spanish Prime Minister to Mexico was in January 2019.
[Noticia de Última Hora. Habrá actualización en breve]
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