The government of Pedro Sánchez transmitted to that of López Obrador its “enormous displeasure” at being excluded from the military event that will commemorate the 200 years since the consummation of Independence. This is in addition to AMLO’s insistent request for Spain to apologize for the grievances during the Conquest.
Mexico and Spain are experiencing an unusual diplomatic crisis. The government of Pedro Sánchez conveyed to that of López Obrador its “enormous displeasure” at being excluded from the military event that will commemorate the 200 years since the consummation of Independence. This is in addition to AMLO’s insistent request that Spain apologize for the grievances committed during the Conquest and the harsh accusations that the National Palace launched against Spanish companies regarding the reform of the Energy Law. During his visit to Madrid, Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard tried to “put out the fire,” sources from both governments tell Proceso.
The Secretary of Foreign Relations, Marcelo Ebrard, made a stopover in Madrid on April 30 – taking advantage of his trip to Russia, focused on the supply of vaccines against covid-19 -, to try to alleviate the “enormous disgust ”of the government of Pedro Sánchez, upon learning that Spain is excluded from the round of invitations that the Mexican government made to different nations to participate in the emblematic commemorations that take place in 2021, among them the acts for the 500 years of the fall of Tenochtitlan and the 200 of the consummation of Independence.
At the beginning of February, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Arancha González Laya, made known the deep malaise that caused such exclusion, through the Mexican ambassador to Spain, María Carmen Oñate, who communicated it to the Foreign Ministry, they confirmed to A former Spanish diplomat and a member of the government of the 4T process separately, both aware of the episode and of others who cross this anno horribilis for the bilateral relationship.
Throughout 2021 there are 15 acts of emblematic commemorations. However, the highlight will be the celebration of the 200 years of the consummation of Independence, on September 27, and previously the civic-military parade on September 16, for which the participation of military contingents from various countries is being prepared. .
Diplomatic tension
The differences of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador with Spain go through the letter he sent in March 2019 to King Felipe VI, in which he asks him to admit the “historical responsibility” of Spain for the “grievances caused” during the Conquest and offer “ the apologies or political reparations ”that this entails, as pointed out in the president’s letter, finally made public last January.
But also the tension posed by the president’s permanent criticism of Spanish companies, and very particularly in the case of energy company Iberdrola, which has been the center of presidential strikes in the framework of the reform of the energy law of his mandate, and for the alleged corruption in which said company was involved in the governments of Felipe Calderón and Enrique Peña Nieto.
In this visit, Ebrard sought to correspond to the visit that González Laya made to Mexico last November, in which the minister tried to overcome the crisis in the bilateral relationship.
Although Ebrard also met with the Minister of Transport and Mobility, José Luis Ábalos, and the Minister of Science and Innovation, Pedro Duque, the central theme of the visit was to correspond to the gesture of González Laya’s visit to Mexico and try to lower tension to disagreements.
The statement issued by the SRE after the meeting highlighted that the Spanish minister reiterated “the will of Spain to be part of the exercise of commemorations of the Bicentennial of the Consummation of the Independence of Mexico.”
González Laya’s position is in tune with the message of King Felipe VI, during the greeting to the Diplomatic Corps accredited in Spain, on January 28, in which the monarch called Mexico to “enhance a common past”, and reiterated its “firm determination to continue contributing to the development and well-being, present and future, of its peoples and citizens.”
“Spain – he said in reference to the commemorations throughout America – wishes to actively accompany these celebrations that should allow us not only to enhance a common past, but also and, above all, to reiterate our firm determination to continue contributing to development and well-being, present and future , of its peoples and citizens ”, he expressed.
However, the political gesture of the Mexican Foreign Minister with his visit did not save the decision of the López Obrador government not to include Spain in the celebrations, and that maintains its demand that the Spanish State asks for an official pardon for the wrongs committed during the Conquest, as he points out in his letter of March 2019.
Source: proceso.com.mx
