{"id":53500,"date":"2025-11-26T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-26T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/latinoamerica21.com\/?p=53500"},"modified":"2025-11-26T12:17:46","modified_gmt":"2025-11-26T15:17:46","slug":"diplomacy-in-mexico-spain-relations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/latinoamerica21.com\/en\/diplomacy-in-mexico-spain-relations\/","title":{"rendered":"Diplomacy in Mexico\u2013Spain Relationship"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This business of asking Spain to apologize to Mexico at this point\u2014I just don\u2019t understand it.<\/em>
<\/em> \u2014Luis Mateo D\u00edez (Cervantes Prize)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In recent times we have witnessed the demand made first by Andr\u00e9s Manuel L\u00f3pez Obrador (AMLO), and later by Claudia Sheinbaum, that the Spanish state apologize for the \u201catrocities\u201d committed during the conquest and colonization. Meanwhile, some sharp minds wonder when these leaders themselves will apologize to the families of the 130,000 intentional homicides and more than 50,000 forced disappearances during the past seven years of the Obrador’s government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The immediate response is that the two things are not the same: what happened more than five hundred years ago was the result of a violent colonization, and such an apology is necessary to dignify a relationship marked by historical \u201cchiaroscuros\u201d\u2014as the Spanish prime minister, Pedro S\u00e1nchez, recently said in an interview. But would it not also be necessary to apologize for having allowed, and continuing to tolerate, this internal colonization by criminal organizations in regions practically devoid of the State?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

True: Christopher Columbus, sent by the Catholic Monarchs, arrived on the island of Guanahani in the Bahamian archipelago on October 12, 1492, believing he had reached India. Later, on April 21, 1519, Hern\u00e1n Cort\u00e9s did likewise: he disembarked at San Juan de Ul\u00faa, entered the territory, and on the way to Great Tenochtitlan forged strategic alliances in order to violently dismantle the Mexica Empire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not so different is what the barons of organized crime have done\u2014men who have moved from being subjects of political power to becoming its protagonists, with all the prerogatives that implies in terms of territorial control, institutions, and federal, state, and municipal budgets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This apology has never come, and perhaps never will, because in some sense it would have to come from those who practice narcopolitics\u2014and, mind you, some of them are the very ones demanding an apology from the Spanish state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what is the point of requesting such an apology? Populist narratives always need an enemy, whether to reaffirm their nationalism in a globalized world or to find scapegoats for their own inability to generate well-being for their peoples. Be it the Spanish state or former presidents Ernesto Zedillo or Felipe Calder\u00f3n\u2014one representing neoliberalism and the other responsible for the so-called \u201cwar on drugs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Six years have passed since AMLO sent a letter to Pope Francis and another to the Spanish king, Felipe VI, demanding an apology for the atrocities committed against Indigenous peoples. Pope Francis had no problem issuing that apology in a protocolary manner, while the Spanish Crown considered the request excessive and has maintained prudent silence all these years.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And suddenly, the interest in securing an apology from the Spanish state has resurfaced, and diplomats from two like-minded governments are working so that, within this discreet framework, the objective may be achieved\u2014seeking that triumphant photograph of King Felipe VI and President Claudia Sheinbaum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It must be acknowledged that this request, more than an attempt to redress historical \u201catrocities,\u201d has a political and economic agenda behind it, as one could read between the lines of the speech by Spanish foreign minister Jos\u00e9 Manuel Albares Bueno.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A political interest because, as noted, there is an affinity between the occupants of La Moncloa and of the National Palace\u2014that is, between the PSOE and Morena. But above all, an economic interest because Mexico is experiencing a lack of economic growth which, according to Banco de M\u00e9xico\u2019s forecasts for 2026, is likely to worsen, whereas Spain has one of the most stable economies in the European Union\u2014an attractive factor for stabilizing diplomatic relations between the two nations, even though the rule of law is, for many investors, in question because of the popular election of judges, magistrates, and ministers. And we shall see how this becomes the touchstone in the tripartite negotiations for the USMCA review, which could further aggravate the situation of a government that spends more than it earns\u2014a situation that, by pure logic, should be reversed, but has instead been resolved through debt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus, diplomatic discretion must prevail to safeguard economic interests, and for that, the signals and gestures of political leaders\u2014who must avoid any missteps\u2014are critically important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I offer two contrasting examples. The first is a front-page photo from El Pa\u00eds<\/em> showing Mexico\u2019s ambassador to Spain, Quirino Ordaz Coppel, and Spanish foreign minister Jos\u00e9 Manuel Albares Bueno greeting each other warmly as a prelude to the opening of the exhibition Half the World: Women in Indigenous Mexico<\/em>, which showcases 435 archaeological pieces across four venues in the Spanish capital. In his remarks, the minister acknowledged that the conquest and colonization included \u201cmoments of pain and injustice toward Indigenous peoples.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n


The second is President Sheinbaum\u2019s dismissive response when asked, during one of her morning press conferences, about Queen Letizia\u2019s intention to visit Mexico: \u201cWe\u2019ll see!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some will say it was an irrelevant slip. However, others will believe that this very distinctive style of Obradorista diplomacy\u2014from the apology to the verbal stumble\u2014is what complicates the delicate work of those weaving the fine threads of Mexico\u2013Spain bilateral relations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, all of this coincides, unfortunately, with the rupture of relations with Peru. The South American country\u2019s Congress has declared Sheinbaum persona non grata<\/em> for, among other things, interfering in Peruvian affairs, while from the high parliamentary tribune she is accused of being in thrall to organized crime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ultimately, Mexico\u2019s relations with the world\u2014and, in particular, with certain Latin American countries\u2014are going through a difficult moment when political leaders are questioning the collusion between politics and organized crime. That is where an apology to the families of the murdered and disappeared becomes necessary to fulfill AMLO\u2019s own maxim: \u201cthe best foreign policy is domestic policy.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The demand for an apology from Spain rekindles tensions in Mexican diplomacy, while internal violence and narcopolitics call into question the coherence and direction of the country\u2019s foreign policy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":331,"featured_media":53460,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16868,16872],"tags":[15635],"gps":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-53500","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-relaiciones-internacionales-en","8":"category-mexico-en","9":"tag-debates"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinoamerica21.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53500","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinoamerica21.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinoamerica21.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinoamerica21.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/331"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinoamerica21.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53500"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/latinoamerica21.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53500\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinoamerica21.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinoamerica21.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinoamerica21.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinoamerica21.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53500"},{"taxonomy":"gps","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinoamerica21.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/gps?post=53500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}