Outgoing Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on Wednesday (25) expressed support for his successor Claudia Sheinbaum’s decision to exclude Spanish King Felipe VI from her inauguration ceremony scheduled for October 1, and called on Madrid to leave “arrogance and arrogance” aside and apologize for colonization.
Asked during his morning press conference about Sheinbaum’s decision, the Mexican president alleged that the Spanish monarchy acted with great arrogance, since it never responded to the “respectful and formal” letter in which it requested an apology to the native peoples of Mexico for colonization.
“We are talking about differences with the Spanish monarchy, which was asked, respectfully asked, to offer an apology to the native peoples, to the indigenous peoples of Mexico for the atrocities committed during the European invasion of our country and there was no response,” said López Obrador.
The leftist president argued that, in addition to there being no response, a “campaign” against his government had been launched.
“And they acted very arrogantly, they never responded to a respectful and formal letter, they sent their spokespeople, even their organic intellectuals. I remember that you [Mario] Vargas Llosa [escritor peruano radicado na Espanha] launched himself with great force, and others on Spanish radio programs, on Spanish television, insulting us,” he said.
In this context, he made clear his support for Sheinbaum’s decision not to invite the Spanish monarchy to his inauguration.
“I support the president-elect. If she already has a position, I will sign it, I will support it, because I have a lot of confidence in the president-elect,” he assured.
However, he claimed that the situation has nothing to do with friendship with the Spanish people who, he said, “are a hard-working people, a good people, a people who have suffered at various times in history”.
Finally, the president stated that Spain must tell its story in a different way, in addition to “leaving racism aside”, which has affected “even” Spaniards who made their fortune in Mexico and then return to retire in their country and, according to López Obrador, are insulted by their own compatriots.
“What do you think they are called in Spain? Indians. I am not talking about Mexicans, the poor, no, I am talking about very rich people who with effort, I repeat, worked according to the law here in this country and made a fortune,” he commented.
López Obrador’s reaction comes just hours after the Spanish crown criticized the fact that Sheinbaum had invited only the president of the Spanish government, Pedro Sánchez, to the inauguration on October 1.
According to Sheinbaum, the refusal to involve Felipe VI in the event occurred because the monarch did not respond to the letter that López Obrador sent him on March 1, 2019, requesting that, in view of the celebration of Mexico’s 200 years of independence, he “express in a public and official way the recognition of the harm caused” by colonization.
The absence of a representative of the Spanish crown at Sheinbaum’s inauguration is a new moment of bilateral tension since López Obrador declared, in February 2022, a “pause” in relations due to the abuses that he denounces have been committed by Spanish companies in Mexico, mainly in the energy sector.
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