• Foreign Affairs Spain and Mexico put an end to the 'pause' decreed by López Obrador

The Mexican president,

Andrés Manuel López Obrador

(AMLO), has reiterated this Friday that the 'pause' in relations with Spain that he decreed last February continues in force, since "there is no attitude of respect on their part" .

These statements, made during López Obrador's daily press conference, popularly known as 'Mañanera', come one day after five Spanish ministers traveled to

Mexico

to stage the good harmony between the two countries, within the framework of the

XIII Commission binational

.

"I sent a respectful letter to the Head of State, to the King of Spain, and he did not even have the attention to answer me," AMLO lamented, referring to the letter he sent to Felipe VI in 2019 demanding a pardon for the wrongs committed during the Conquest.

The Mexican president has recalled that, unlike the monarch, Pope Francis did answer all the letters he sent him "and we did not necessarily agree."

López Obrador has insisted that, in order to start a new stage in relations between the two countries, it is essential that Spain show "a gesture of humility" and offer an apology "for the extermination, repression and murder of the original peoples".

"They say that we have to thank them for coming to civilize us," lamented the Mexican president, who has extended his criticism of Spanish companies, "they act with the same arrogant attitude."

López Obrador recalled that some companies, such as OHL, Repsol and Iberdrola, were benefited by the governments of Felipe Calderón and Enrique Peña Nieto, and insisted that: "this has already changed, we do not want them to see us as a land of conquest".

The Mexican president assures that the Spanish people are "first class" and that his conflict is not with them, but with the government, the Crown and the companies of our country, "it usually happens that there are a lot of people for so little government."

These words represent a severe setback for Spanish diplomacy which, the day before, had made a whole declaration of intent sending up to six ministers from the Cabinet of Pedro Sánchez to Mexico.

At the last minute, the Minister of Justice, Pilar Llop, had to cancel her attendance, but the large delegation was made up of the

Ministers of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares;

of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Reyes Maroto;

of Culture, Miquel Iceta;

of Education, Pilar Alegría, and of Universities, Joan Subirats.

"The health of our relations is excellent," said Minister Albares during the press conference that he offered together with his Mexican counterpart, Marcelo Ebrard, in which they also announced that important agreements had been reached on immigration, economic, diplomatic, educational matters. and development cooperation.

Questioned about the controversial 'pause' that AMLO had demanded months before, the Foreign Minister reiterated that "it is impossible to pause the relationship between two brother countries, between thousands of Spaniards and Mexicans who cross the Atlantic every year" and was pleased that these relations "year by year are growing".

The Spanish delegation returned to Spain on Thursday night with the satisfaction of having fulfilled their duty, but upon getting off the plane they have verified that their diplomatic efforts have had no effect on AMLO, who continues to blame Spain and its companies for a good part of the ills that Mexico suffers today.


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  • Felipe VI