President of Mexico Insists That Offering Apologies To Indigenous People
Morning press conference of Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum on October 11, 2024. Photo: Gobierno de Mexico
October 12, 2024 Hour: 3:23 pm
The president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, insisted this Saturday that offering apologies for ‘crimes’ committed during the conquest, as she has requested from the Spanish crown, is not shameful and, on the contrary, is something that elevates and brings the peoples closer together.
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“The arrival of the Spaniards over five centuries ago meant the subjugation and even elimination of the indigenous peoples. Offering apologies for the crimes committed is not shameful; on the contrary, it elevates and brings people closer together,” the leader stated in a social media post.
This call for accountability comes amid heightened tensions between Mexico and Spain, particularly after Sheinbaum declined to invite Spanish King Felipe VI to her recent inauguration, citing the lack of response to a letter sent by López Obrador in 2019 requesting an apology to Mexico’s indigenous communities.
The Mexican president reminded everyone that October 12 “is not the Day of the Race or of Hispanic Heritage,” and noted that Christopher Columbus discovered America for Europeans, “but on our continent, and particularly in what we now call Mexico, there were already great civilizations and cultures that we are proud of,” she concluded.
Sheinbaum also shared video during her morning press conference that highlighted historical apologies made by various countries for past injustices citeing notable examples, including Japan’s apologies since 1990 for abuses in Korea and China, as well as Germany’s 2000 apology to the Israeli parliament for the Holocaust.
Other instances included Italy’s 2008 apology to Libya for colonialism, the Netherlands apology in 2013 for executions in Indonesia during the 1940s, and Portugal’s acknowledgment in 2024 of its responsibility for colonial-era slavery, as was also published on the Presidential official website as a statement.
In her presentation, Sheinbaum also referenced Mexico’s own reconciliatory measures during former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s administration (2018-2024), during which the government apologized to Maya and Yaqui peoples, as well as the Chinese community in Mexico, for historical violence discrimination.
Moreover, Sheinbaum urged Spain to seize the opportunity of October 12, which is now commemorated in Mexico as the Day of Indigenous Resistance, to formally apologize to the indigenous peoples of Mexico for the abuses committed during Spanish colonization.
Autor: ACJ
Fuente: X: @Claudiashein // EFE // gob.mx/presidencia
