Cuerpo strengthens relations with Sheinbaum as the PP widens its rift with the Mexican government

Eduardo González The First Vice President of the Government and Minister of Economy, Trade and Business, Carlos Cuerpo, met this week with the President of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, during an official visit to the North American country. This visit coincided with a new controversy between the Mexican government and the People’s Party (PP), this time stemming from remarks made by Congresswoman Cayetana Álvarez de Toledo during an event at a Mexican university, in which she questioned the “national sovereignty” of a country plagued by “organized crime.” Vice President Cuerpo was received by Claudia Sheinbaum during an official visit to Mexico “focused on boosting economic and trade relations between the two strategic partners” and on the opportunities offered by “the renewed impetus of the Modernized Global Agreement between the European Union and Mexico, in an international context marked by uncertainty,” according to a press release from the Ministry. “Spain and Mexico must take advantage of the great potential of our economies and companies to face an increasingly uncertain world together,” stated Cuerpo. “In a complex global context, middle powers like Spain and Mexico need to ally themselves more than ever,” he added. Spain and Mexico are moving forward with a roadmap to strengthen their bilateral relationship, following up with concrete steps on the meeting between President Pedro Sánchez and President Sheinbaum,” continued the Vice President. “Beyond business confidence, institutional confidence is also growing,” added Cuerpo, who traveled with a delegation of 65 Spanish companies and held high-level institutional and business meetings. Álvarez de Toledo and Díaz de Ayuso Coinciding with Cuerpo's visit, Deputy Álvarez de Toledo, deputy spokesperson for the Popular Parliamentary Group in Congress, gave a lecture this Tuesday at the University of Liberty in Mexico City, in which she questioned the "national sovereignty" of Mexico, a country facing "three internal threats: organized crime, authoritarian populism, and a dependency mentality." "What remains of Mexican national sovereignty when millions of citizens have lost sovereignty over their own lives to drug trafficking, to political power, to economic dependency?" she asked. Álvarez de Toledo's controversial remarks came almost a month after the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso (also of the PP), paid tribute, during an event in Mexico City entitled "Celebration of Evangelization and Mestizaje in Mexico: Malinche and Cortés," to the figure of the conquistador Hernán Cortés and to the "five centuries of mestizaje" between Spain and Mexico, characterized by "hope, joy, and alliances" in contrast to "divisive hate speech." The day after these remarks, Sheinbaum warned that "no foreign power" can 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. Roberto Velasco Regarding these controversies, Mexican Foreign Minister Roberto Velasco declared this Thursday that both Cayetana Álvarez de Toledo and Isabel Díaz Ayuso “are welcome whenever they wish to come to Mexico to give lectures or on vacation.” “Cayetana, Isabel, in Mexico we are always open to dialogue, to understanding, to deepening our understanding of our history and these cultures, and you are welcome whenever you wish to come to Mexico to give lectures or on vacation,” he stated at a press conference. “It has become frequent for visitors to come and tell us Mexicans who we are,” he continued. “A few weeks ago it was Isabel Díaz Ayuso, now it was Cayetana Álvarez, who comes to warn us about these threats to sovereignty that she sees,” he added. “They talk about Mexico being a dangerous country, and yet they continually visit our country, enjoy it, and give lectures,” he added. Sheinbaum herself also addressed the issue in one of her morning press conferences (the “mañaneras”): “They’ve already brought another congresswoman from Spain. It’s great, it’s fantastic,” she declared. “Having to bring in a Spanish congresswoman to talk about national sovereignty is a bit Kafkaesque, to say the least,” she added.

Related Content

History of ‘Scarface’, a Nazi high command in Franco's Spain

Spain's ambiguous role in Equatorial Guinea's 'Freedom Coup'

Sánchez denounces, without mentioning any country, the “attack on Spain’s territorial integrity” in Ceuta

Meloni suspends the Schengen Area with Spain, and Sánchez responds that Italy receives twice as many irregular arrivals

The EU is working “closely” with Spain, while the US accuses Sánchez of “deliberately” promoting “mass illegal migration to Europe”