The King affirms that Latin Americans must address their “disagreements with respect and friendship”

Eduardo González King Felipe VI affirmed this Friday, in a veiled allusion to the current diplomatic conflict with Mexico, that Latin Americans form “a unit in diversity” whose relationship is “so deep” that it allows them to “speak frankly about our possible differences, inevitable in so many centuries of shared history, but always from respect based on friendship.” The Monarch spoke these words during the inauguration of the Meeting of the Hispanic American Academies of History ‘A shared history and its Academies’, held in Trujillo (Cáceres) by the Royal Academy of History and the Fundación Obra Pía de los Pizarro. Don Felipe was accompanied by the Minister of Education, Vocational Training and Sports, Pilar Alegría, and the event took place at the headquarters of the Fundación Obra Pía de los Pizarro and brought together representatives of the Academies of History of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Uruguay and Spain. During his speech, Felipe VI recalled that Spain and the Ibero-American countries are “united by history and very intense ties of affection and brotherhood”, but, above all, “by our shared language and culture, an asset of immense value that we must promote with determination and generosity”. “We, the Ibero-Americans, are a unity in diversity, a culture of cultures,” proclaimed the Monarch. “Our relationship is so deep that it allows us to speak frankly about our possible differences – inevitable, moreover, in so many centuries of shared history – but always from a position of respect based on friendship,” he continued. “Let us not forget that, in this current time of great global challenges that require the coordinated effort of all, the focus of our relationship must be oriented towards the present, in order to prepare or build an even better future, of greater shared benefit, of greater opportunities,” and, therefore, “the essential thing is to gain momentum as it unites us, in our affinities, in order to ultimately reach pragmatic, useful and balanced responses,” he added. The King's words come a few days after the president-elect of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, excluded King Felipe VI from the list of guests to her inauguration for not having responded to a letter from the outgoing president, Andrés López Obrador, in which he was urged to apologize for the Spanish conquest and to agree and draft, between the two countries, "a shared, public and socialized account of their common history in order to begin a new stage in our relations." In response to this decision, the Government of Pedro Sánchez described the exclusion of the King as "unacceptable" and announced its decision "not to participate in said inauguration at any level." Sheinbaum, the official candidate, won the presidential elections on June 3 by a large majority. The inauguration took place on October 1. The King represents Spain at the inaugurations of Ibero-American presidents, a task that Don Felipe has been assuming since 1996 when he was still Prince of Asturias. In March 2019, Andrés Manuel López Obrador revealed that on the first day of that month he had sent a letter to King Felipe VI in which he proposed that the two countries create a roadmap so that “the Kingdom of Spain publicly and officially expresses its recognition of the grievances caused” during the conquest of Mexico against the “indigenous peoples.” The Government “firmly” rejected the content of the letter. That was the first in a series of diplomatic clashes with López Obrador in relation to the memory of the conquest and the colonial period. Three years later, in February 2022, López Obrador returned to the charge against Spain, proposing to put “on hold” relations between the two countries and launching accusations of “plundering” by Spain.

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