After refusing to engage with the Mexican government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador to discuss crimes committed during the Spanish conquest, the Spanish monarch was not extended an invitation to attend Claudia Sheinbaum’s inauguration. While President Pedro Sánchez was invited, he declined the invitation due to the exclusion of the king.
Sheinbaum released a press statement on the situation and explained why she had invited Sánchez and not King Felipe VI, who is usually the diplomatic representative of the Iberian country in this type of inauguration ceremonies. The communiqué details that in 2019, the Mexican government had sent a letter to the Spanish king to discuss and reach an agreement about the vision of the past of the Spanish conquest, and received no reply.
However, the statement by the incoming president also emphasized the important relationship between the two countries, “Mexico and Spain share a solid relationship of friendship, with important economic, touristic and cultural ties. In crucial moments of the Iberian country’s civil war, Mexico was a supportive ally and a generous destination for many Republican Spaniards. Precisely because of all this, I believe that our ties would benefit from the recognition of a renewed historical perspective as the axis of a respectful, solid, and fruitful relationship.”
The Spanish government rejected Sheinbaum’s statement and President Pedro Sánchez informed that “We cannot accept this exclusion and, for this reason, we have manifested the absence of any diplomatic representative as a sign of protest.” For its part, the Spanish Secretary of State stated that “The Government of Spain considers unacceptable the exclusion of H.M. the King from the invitation to the inauguration of the president-elect of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, next October 1 in Mexico City”.
In this regard, last Wednesday, September 25, López Obrador told the press “These differences with the government of Spain are not with the Spanish people. We are talking about differences with the Spanish monarchy, which was respectfully asked to apologize to the Indigenous peoples of Mexico for the atrocities committed during the European invasion of our country. And there was no response.”
In response to the conflict, several Spanish politicians from left and progressive parties expressed their disgust with the attitude of the Spanish monarchy and government. Analysts from across Latin America highlighted that when the Spanish King attended the swearing in of Colombian President Gustavo Petro in 2022, he refused to rise when the sword of Simón Bolívar, who led the struggle against Spanish colonialism, was brought out during the inauguration.
The origin of the controversy
On March 1, 2019, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador asked the King of Spain, Felipe VI, that, for the 200th anniversary of Mexico’s independence, the Kingdom of Spain “publicly and officially express the recognition of the grievances caused [to the Mexican peoples during the Spanish conquest] and that both countries agree and write a shared, public and socialized account of their common history.”
Felipe VI and the Spanish government responded with a resounding silence. The request was even leaked to the Spanish media, which succeeded in promoting a broad debate on whether Spain should apologize for the period of conquest and colony in Latin America.
In the 2019 communiqué, López Obrador stated that though Spanish conquest is part of the history of the Mexican nation, it cannot be ignored that it was an enormously violent, painful, and traumatic event, above all for the Indigenous peoples, who suffered terrible crimes, cultural imposition, and violation of their rights with the approval of the Spanish Crown. In view of the debate that was opened in Mexico and Spain, López Obrador clarified that he did not seek to formally denounce Spain or ask for economic reparation, but only to receive a public apology in which the Iberian country admits its historical responsibility for the crimes committed in colonial times.
In response to Lopez Obrador’s request, the Spanish Secretary of State said “The arrival, 500 years ago, of the Spaniards to the current Mexican lands cannot be judged in the light of contemporary considerations. Our brother peoples have always known how to read our shared past without anger and with a constructive perspective, as free peoples with a common heritage and an extraordinary projection.”
The diplomatic impasse reached its peak in 2022 when López Obrador said he would pause diplomatic relations with Spain after the economic conflicts his government had with some Spanish companies operating in the North American country in the energy sector.
The diplomatic dilemma did not transcend any further: neither Spain apologized nor Mexico pressured through other means to obtain the desired apology. Now Sheinbaum reveals that such an impasse was not completely overcome and that even Morena, the ruling party, remains firm in its decision to demand an apology for a conquest that is part of Latin America’s traumatic past. For now, the future President of Mexico said that she has no intention of cutting diplomatic relations with Spain.
