4 . Collection of Initiatives
CATEGORY 1 LEGISLATIVE INITIATIVES IN CONGRESS AND AUTONOMOUS PARLIAMENTS AND POLITICAL DECLARATIONS ON COLONIALISM AND SLAVERY IN SPAIN
1 . Letter from the president Andrés Manuel López Obrador to Felipe VI , King of Spain
Name of the initiative
Year Participants Status
Letter from the president Andrés Manuel López Obrador to Felipe VI , King of Spain and response from the Government of Spain |
2019 |
Spanish State – Mexico – Vatican |
Request for apology and recognition rejected |
Description |
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In 2019 , the president of Mexico , Manuel López Obrador , coinciding with the 200-year anniversary of the country ’ s independence and the 500-year anniversary of the occupation of the Aztec capital , Teotihuacán , wrote letters to Spain and the Vatican , requesting a formal apology for the crimes committed during the conquest and colonisation of the country . The long and well-argued request , which lists and relates different historical episodes of the period , did not receive any response from King Felipe VI .
However , the government of Spain issued a brief note through the Minister for Foreign Affairs , “ regretting ” the publication of the letter and “ firmly ” rejecting its content , adding that “ the arrival , 500 years ago , of Spaniards to current Mexican soil cannot be judged in the light of contemporary considerations . Our sister nations have always known how to interpret our shared past without anger and with a constructive perspective , as free people with a common heritage ”. However , the Vatican reasserted the apologies it had made in 1992 during the commemoration of the 500-year anniversary .
This was a controversial episode of diplomatic tension between Spain and Mexico , with cross accusations and diverse political stances – for and against –, that highlighted the existence of diverse views of this past and how it was managed .
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