colonial grievances are difficult to resolve: mexico's new president refuses to invite spanish king to his inauguration
2024-09-26
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xinhua news agency, beijing, september 26 (xinhua) -- spain will not send any representatives to the inauguration ceremony of mexico's newly elected president claudia sheinbaum pardo, scheduled for october 1, in protest of mexico's refusal to invite the king of spain to attend. the diplomatic rift between the two countries is due to the unresolved hatred left over from hundreds of years of spanish colonization of mexico.
in a two-page letter published on social media on the 25th, shenbaum explained that only spanish prime minister pedro sanchez was invited to the inauguration ceremony, but king felipe vi was not invited, partly because the latter failed to directly respond to mexico's request for felipe vi to apologize for colonial atrocities.
in the early morning of june 3, in mexico city, the capital of mexico, sheinbaum announced his victory. photo by xinhua news agency reporter li mengxin
according to sheinbaum, outgoing mexican president andres manuel lopez obrador sent a private letter to felipe vi in 2019, asking him to "publicly and formally" acknowledge the atrocities committed by spain during its occupation of mexico, laying the foundation for a more friendly relationship between the two countries. "unfortunately, that letter did not receive any direct response," sheinbaum wrote.
after the letter was published in the newspapers, lopez publicly demanded that the king of spain apologize for its colonial history, but the spanish ministry of foreign affairs formally refused, arguing that history "should not be judged from a contemporary perspective."
on december 14, 2023, spanish prime minister sanchez attended the eu summit in brussels, belgium. photo by xinhua news agency reporter zhao dingzhe
spanish colonists invaded present-day mexico in 1519 and captured tenochtitlan, the capital of the aztec empire founded by the aztec tribe in the 14th century, the predecessor of modern mexico city, in 1521, beginning their occupation of mexico. mexico broke free from spanish colonial rule and declared independence in 1821.
the spanish government announced on the 24th that it would not send any representatives to attend sheinbaum's inauguration. sanchez was asked by reporters on the 25th during the un general assembly in new york whether spain should apologize to mexico. he did not respond directly, but said: "we cannot accept this kind of exclusion (referring to the king being rejected), so we told mexico that the absence of the spanish government's diplomatic representative at the ceremony is an expression of our protest." (shen min)
source: xinhua news agency client