The Diplomat
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Arancha González Laya, received yesterday in Madrid the Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Mexico, Marcelo Ebrard Casaubon, to whom she conveyed Spain’s willingness to participate in the commemorative events of the Bicentennial of the Consummation of the Independence of Mexico.
During his meeting with Ebrard -who made a working visit to Madrid in correspondence with the trip made by González Laya to Mexico in November 2020-, the two ministers reaffirmed the “strategic nature of bilateral relations” and agreed to maintain the high-level dialogue between the two governments and to promote the work of the sub-commissions of the Binational Commission, both in face-to-face and virtual formats. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the celebration of the XIII Meeting will take place in “coming months” in Mexican territory, depending on the sanitary conditions. During the aforementioned visit of the Minister in November, it had been decided to hold it in the first half of this year, but it was not possible due to the pandemic.
Likewise, the two ministers referred to the measures adopted by their countries to face the pandemic derived from COVID-19 and the progress of vaccination campaigns and reiterated, in line with the debates of the recent XXVII Ibero-American Summit, the importance of international cooperation to guarantee equitable access to vaccines, equipment and medicines that “allow all countries, without any distinction, to face the effects of the pandemic on the health of the population”. Ebrard underscored the bonds of solidarity between the two societies and reiterated his gratitude for the humanitarian aid provided by Spain to alleviate, with basic goods, the needs of the families affected by the floods in the south of Mexico. He also expressed his gratitude for the aid provided by the various Spanish companies present in Mexico on the occasion of COVID-19.
The two ministers reviewed the calendar for the year 2021, which commemorates important anniversaries, and Minister González Laya reiterated Spain’s willingness to “be part of the exercise to commemorate the Bicentennial of the Consummation of Mexico’s Independence”. In addition, the two foreign ministers reaffirmed their firm support for the modernization, early signing and entry into force of the Global Agreement between Mexico and the European Union. Also present at the meeting were the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Ibero-America and the Caribbean, Cristina Gallach Figueres, and the Secretary of State for International Cooperation, Ángeles Moreno Bau, as well as the director of the Cervantes Institute, Luis García Montero, and the ambassadors of Mexico and Spain.
One of the main objectives of the minister’s trip in November 2020 was to coordinate with Mexico the joint celebration of the major Hispanic-Mexican commemorations in 2021, including the 200th anniversary of Independence. That visit came shortly after the country’s president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, demanded that Spain apologize for the “looting and atrocities” perpetrated against the native peoples since the Conquest in 1521. In this regard, González Laya commented during a press conference at the Spanish Embassy, after meeting with Ebrard, that Spain and Mexico must “build on the past, but looking to the future” and, therefore, “we prefer to focus on our relationship for the next 50 years and not on what happened 500 years ago”.
