<h6><strong>Eduardo González</strong></h6> <h4><strong>Former President of the Government José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero praised President Claudia Sheinbaum in Mexico this Wednesday, more than six months after the outbreak of a diplomatic crisis between Spain and Mexico over the president's decision to exclude King Felipe VI from the guest list for her inauguration.</strong></h4> Zapatero traveled to Mexico to participate in the Spring International Seminar "Good Government in the 21st Century" at UNAM. During his lecture, entitled "The Future of Good Government," the former president praised Sheinbaum. "There is no one in the world with those popularity ratings, which refutes the theory that we are at a time where distrust in those in power is growing," he stated. "There are leaders who inspire great trust, like the president of Mexico. I don't recall those approval ratings after just a few months," he added. Zapatero's remarks come more than half a year after the diplomatic crisis between Spain and Mexico erupted due to Claudia Sheinbaum's decision to exclude King Felipe VI from the guest list for her inauguration (on October 1) for failing to respond to a letter from outgoing President Andrés López Obrador urging him to apologize for the Spanish conquest. The Spanish government called this decision "unacceptable" and announced that it would not participate in the inauguration "at any level." Members of Sumar, a minority partner in the coalition government, were present at the investiture ceremony in a personal capacity. The King represents Spain at the inaugurations of Ibero-American presidents, a role that King Felipe has held since 1996 when he was Prince of Asturias. Specifically, the monarch attended the inauguration of Sheinbaum's predecessor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, in 2018. <h5><strong>Meeting with the Foreign Minister</strong></h5> On another note, Zapatero was received by Mexican Foreign Minister Juan Ramón de la Fuente, with whom he discussed "the global geopolitical context and the challenges facing the international community, both in Europe and Latin America." "Foreign Minister Juan Ramón de la Fuente met at the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs with José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, who was President of Spain from 2004 to 2011" and "one of the founders of the Puebla Group," the Mexican Foreign Ministry reported on social media. During the meeting, De la Fuente and Zapatero "exchanged views on the global geopolitical context and the challenges facing the international community, both in Europe and in Latin America and the Caribbean." Also present at the meeting was Juan Duarte, Spain's ambassador to Mexico.
