Insisting that Spain failed to understand what he meant when he demanded an apology from the crown for the conquest, Outgoing Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) said Thursday that his successor, Claudia Sheinbaum, could end the “pause” decreed in relations with the Iberian country, since the arrival of the future president to power represents “a new stage.”
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There are possibilities (of lifting the pause with Spain), of course! That will be decided by the (future) constitutional president
The president said that after October 1, when Sheinbaum takes office as president of Mexico, will have the constitutional power to define the foreign policy that the country will follow for the next six years.
“There are possibilities (of lifting the pause with Spain), of course! That will be decided by the (future) constitutional president,” he said at his morning press conference.
In this regard, the president stated that Sheinbaum’s future mandate represents “a new stage” and affirmed that during his six-year term, the bilateral relationship with the Iberian country did not represent a serious problem. “With us, there was no fracture, there was no rupture. Nothing more than that incident, if you can call it that, but I think the pause was needed,” he said.
What prompted López Obrador to pause relations with Spain?
King Felipe VI, 54 years old, ascended to the throne on June 19, 2014.
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In March 2019, just three months after taking office, López Obrador – whose paternal grandfather was from Cantabria and whose first trip abroad was to Spain – launched a diplomatic challenge against Spain for its conquest of the North American country 500 years ago.
Amlo did so through a letter he sent to the King of Spain, Felipe VI, in which he urged him to recognize the abuses that the Mexican authorities consider were committed during the conquest and to apologize for them.
At the time, the Spanish government reacted to the disclosure of the content of the letter with a statement in which it said it “deeply regrets” its publication and “firmly rejects” its argument.
However, By the end of 2022, Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced a diplomatic “pause” with Madrid because, in his opinion, “there is no attitude of respect” and he asserted that Spain must stop seeing its country as a “land of conquest.”
They felt offended, they did not act with political civility, they sent organic intellectuals and journalists to attack us.
“It was a collusion from above, an economic and political promiscuity, at the top of the governments of Mexico and Spain, but for three consecutive six-year terms. And Mexico got the worst of it, they plundered us. So, it is better to give us some time, a pause, maybe when the government changes, relations will be established. I would hope that when I am not here they will not be the same as they were before,” said the Mexican president at that time, focusing on Spanish companies with connections to the governments of his predecessors: Felipe Calderón (Repsol), Vicente Fox (Iberdrola).
For Amlo, a public apology was the only possible way to achieve full reconciliation.
Now, at the door Upon his departure, López Obrador insisted that Spain did not understand his request.
The President of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
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“They felt offended, they did not act with political civility, they sent organic intellectuals, journalists to attack us. What we were looking for was to strengthen, based on forgiveness, based on offering apologies, to strengthen our relations, to become more united in order to move forward, I think they did not understand it,” said the president, who also clarified that his government never had problems with Spanish citizens, because he maintained that they are a “hardworking” people.
“We have no differences with the Spanish people, who are a working people, a progressive people. No, it is the elites. And that must be made clear in all cases, because it is what happens in all countries, one thing is the governments and another thing is the people,” he explained.
Mexico is the sixth largest foreign investor in Spain, and the second largest non-European investor after the United States. Spain is the second largest investor in Mexico.
Amlo will not receive King Felipe of Spain
Photographs of King Felipe and Queen Letizia, with their daughters, Princess Leonor and Infanta Sofia.
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When questioned If he could receive King Felipe of Spain or the Princess of Asturias, Letizia Ortiz, in a visit that they would tentatively make at the end of September, Amlo mentioned that he made the decision not to receive any head of state.
He indicated that, when handing over the presidential sash to Claudia Sheinbaum at the transition ceremony, he will not meet with heads of state either, as he will only thank them and applaud them.
“I am not going to meet with presidents because I would have to meet with everyone and that is the responsibility of the constitutional president,” he said, but not before taking the opportunity to attack “the Spanish elite” and former presidents Felipe Calderón, Enrique Peña Nieto and Carlos Salinas de Gortari, who live in Spain.
López Obrador’s cycle as a public figure is closed
Sheinbaum became the most voted president in the political history of Mexico.
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The Mexican president said that bilateral relations will be handled by his successor and recalled that he will not attend any public or political events in the country or abroad.
I am retiring completely, I will not have any public political activity, I will not attend any event either in Mexico or abroad.
“I am completely retiring, I will not have any public political activity, I will not attend any event either in Mexico or abroad,” he said.
López Obrador said that his term as a public figure has ended and he will retire from the political spotlight at the end of his six-year term. In this regard, he revealed that he has rejected invitations to attend forums in other countries as a guest.
“I have been invited to attend forums in other countries, to visit other countries once I finish, but I am not going to participate, I am very grateful for the invitations,” he concluded.
STEPHANY ECHAVARRÍA
International Editor
TIME
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