The Diplomat in Spain

The Diplomat

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador yesterday apologised for the “catastrophe” caused by the Spanish conquest as he commemorated the 500th anniversary of the capture of Tenochtitlan by Hernán Cortés’ troops on Friday.

“We remember the fall of the great Tenochtitlan and we offer forgiveness to the victims of the catastrophe caused by the Spanish military occupation of Mesoamerica and the rest of the territory of the current Mexican Republic,” said the president at the official ceremony, reports Efe.

On other occasions, López Obrador has already lashed out against Spain and, shortly after coming to power, he went so far as to ask King Felipe VI to apologise for the conquest.

López Obrador yesterday celebrated five centuries of “indigenous resistance”, as his government has renamed the conquest of 13 August 1521, to question the effects of the “massacres of the conquistadors” and the three centuries of colonisation.

The Mexican president, who is of Spanish descent, pointed out that it is not “easy to carry out an objective analysis” of the “military occupation” and “Spanish colonisation” because there are few “primary” sources from the original peoples on the event. Sources that “tend to justify” the invasion in the name of “freedom, faith, racial superiority and civilisation” predominate, he added.