Mexico’s President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum. Photo: Google

By KELIN DILLON

Mexico’s President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum reportedly chose not to invite Spanish King Felipe VI to her upcoming presidential inauguration on Oct. 1, a decision the Spanish government has since characterized as “unacceptable.”

According to Sheinbaum, her administration declined to invite the ruler because he refused to respond to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s (AMLO) written request to acknowledge the grievances Spain committed to Mexico and its people during the Spanish conquest, a move with significant diplomatic implications.

“Regrettably, this letter did not deserve any direct response, as would have corresponded to the best diplomatic practice of bilateral relations,” said Sheinbaum on Wednesday, Sep. 25. “Instead, part of the letter was leaked in the media, and after that, the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a press release.”

As a result, the Spanish government will not send any representatives to Sheinbaum’s inauguration and said that it “decided not to participate in said inauguration at any level,” even though Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez was reportedly sent an invitation.

Mexico reportedly invited representatives from all countries – excluding Peru and Ecuador, with which Mexico has broken diplomatic relations – to next week’s event, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, who likewise declined the president-elect’s invitation.

For his part, AMLO took to his daily morning press conference on Wednesday, Sep. 25, to announce his support of Sheinbaum’s decision and accuse Spain of acting out of “arrogance.”

“I support the president-elect. If she already has a position, I subscribe to it, I support it, because I have a lot of confidence in the president-elect,” said López Obrador at the time.

“It is also important to clarify that these differences with the Government of Spain are not with the Spanish people, we are talking about differences with the Spanish monarchy, which was respectfully asked to offer an apology to the indigenous peoples of Mexico for the atrocities committed by the European invasion of our country,” continued AMLO.

“But not only was there no response, but they leaked the letter and unleashed an entire campaign against us, against the Government of Mexico, and acted very arrogantly, they never answered a respectful and formal letter,” concluded the federal executive.