KING Felipe VI of Spain has admitted that a ‘great deal of abuse’ was committed by his nation during its conquest of the Americas.
Calls for an apology for actions committed during Spain’s colonisation of Mexico have been heard for centuries making this remark from the King even more significant.
“There were also struggles, so to speak, moral and ethical controversies regarding how power was exercised from day one,” the King said to Quirino Ordaz Coppel, Mexico’s ambassador to Spain, during a visit to an exhibition at Madrid’s National Archeological Museum.
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Titled ‘Half the World: Women in Indigenous Mexico’, the exhibition looks at objects that ‘demonstrate the power and relevance of women of the ruling elite of the time’.
“There are things that later, when we study them and learn about them, you say: ‘Well,, by today’s standards and values, they obviously cannot make us proud’,” the King said.
He went on to menion how ‘we have to understand’ events ‘in their proper context, not with excessive moral presentism, but with objective and rigorous analysis’ so that lessons can be learnt.
These comments have however come under scrutiny for falling short of an apology, particularly given the complex backdrop of diplomatic disputes regarding the conquest.
Pre-pandemic, in 2019, the Mexican president at the time, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, sent a letter to the Spanish monarchy asking them to apologise for atrocities committed by Spain during its conquest of the Americas.
The lack of response to this letter by the King left a sour taste in Lopez Obrador’s mouth who interpreted the silence as a rebuff, causing further tensions between both nations.
These tensions have continued since with Mexico’s current president, Claudia Sheinbaum, not inviting Felipe to attend her inauguration and Spain choosing not to send an official representative to the ceremony.
This Madrid museum exhibition is attempting to build a positive relationship between the two Spanish-speaking countries with Spain’s foreign minister, Jose Manuel Albares, speaking up in November on the ‘pain and injustice’ toward indigenous peoples that has occurred during the complex history between Spain and Mexico.
Albares’ comments were well-received by Sheinbaum however there is still more to be done before the relationship is repaired.
The ‘pain and injustice’ mentioned by Albaras began when Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes landed on the Yucatan peninsula in March 1519.
With 600 men and a dozen horses he ended up, two years later and after conflicts, bringing the majority of Mexico under Spanish rule.
Mass slaughter, torture, rape and human sacrifice were all involved in the bloodbath that occurred in Tenochtitlan.
This fall of the Aztec Empire in 1521 is what historians believe marked the beginning of centuries of colonial rule.
That period of time remains sensitive for both Spain and Mexico with this exhibition in the Spanish capital aiming to encourage dialogue and reflection on this past that is still shaping relationships between the countries over 500 years later .
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