The Diplomat
The president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, and the president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, have engaged in a political clash over the figure of the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés.
During an event in Mexico City, titled ‘Celebration of Evangelization and Mestizaje in Mexico: Malinche and Cortés,’ Ayuso paid tribute this Monday to the “five centuries of mestizaje” between Spain and Mexico, characterized by “hope, joy, and alliances” in contrast to the “divisive rhetoric of hate.”
“I come from that Madrid which today has many Malinche figures in the Metro, in the streets, in the schools, and I feel deeply proud to see Mexico and the rest of the Latin American countries that are part of this great project in those small corners of Madrid, a crossroads, the home of all of us who are here,” she said.
She also recalled the figure of Isabella I of Castile, a “free and principled woman who, from her faith and deep love for Spain and for the Hispanic world, changed the history of the West,” and celebrated that, five centuries later, the Spanish language “has spread throughout the American continent, is the most universal mother tongue that exists, and the one that has grown furthest from its borders.” “That is why all of us here share surnames; you would have to be a real fool to hate each other and share surnames,” she added.
The following day, at the commemoration of the 164th Anniversary of the Battle of Puebla, Claudia Sheinbaum warned that no foreign power would tell Mexicans how to govern themselves. “To those who revive the Conquest as salvation, we say: you are destined for defeat. To those who believe the people are foolish: you are destined for defeat. Those who seek to vindicate Hernán Cortés and his atrocities: you are destined for defeat,” she stated.
“We are free, like the Indigenous people who fled to the mountains during the Conquest to preserve their right to organize themselves as they saw fit. We are a people who love their freedom, their independence, their sovereignty, and we are always ready to defend it. Freedom and independence are justice and sovereignty,” she added.
On Wednesday, Isabel Díaz Ayuso accused Sheinbaum of having used her presence in Mexico “to divide and create conflict.” “The president has tried throughout these days to use my presence to divide, to create conflict, when I have never spoken about her,” she declared during an event at the Morelos Theater in the state of Aguascalientes.
She also affirmed that she respects the Mexican president for having been democratically elected and because she respects “the express wishes of the Mexican people,” and that she maintains that same respect when Sheinbaum visits Spain.
During her tour of Mexico, which will conclude on May 12, Ayuso also criticized the ruling party, the National Regeneration Movement (Morena), and met with the governors of Chihuahua, Querétaro, and Guanajuato, from the opposition National Action Party (PAN).
In Aguascalientes, the Madrid president received the “Aguascalientes 450 Years of Order, Progress, and Freedom” Medal, awarded by the city council. In her speech, she stated that “Mexico and Spain are part of the same family, with shared values dating back five centuries.” “Some people want to deny it, but where some see problems, others see opportunities,” she added.
