(CNN Spanish) – King Felipe VI appealed for “unity” over “discrepancies” in the Ibero-American countries during his participation in the opening of the meeting of the Ibero-American Academies of History in Trujillo, Spain, this Friday. The monarch’s statement came days after Mexico’s new President Claudia Sheinbaum did not invite him to her investiture ceremony, sparking a controversy that ended with the Spanish government rejecting its own invitation due to the king’s omission. Happened.
Sheinbaum, who invited the head of the Spanish government, Pedro Sánchez, pointed out that he did not do so with Felipe VI because he did not respond to the letter that his predecessor Andrés Manuel López Obrador sent him in 2019, where he Called for a public apology to the natives of Mexico for “mistakes” committed during the Spanish conquest.
In Trujillo, the king did not directly mention the recent dispute with Mexico, but did say that, when talking about the “inevitable” discrepancies in the Ibero-American community, “unity in diversity, of cultures There is “culture”.
“We are Ibero-American unity in diversity, a culture of cultures. Our relationship is so deep that it allows us to talk openly even about our possible disagreements, which are inevitable in many centuries of shared history, but always in friendship based on respect. We must not forget that in this present time of great global challenges, which requires coordinated effort by all, the focus of our relations must be oriented towards the present in order to prepare or build a better future, greater shared benefits, greater benefits Could. Opportunity,” he commented. King
A day earlier, EU High Commissioner for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell had mentioned this dispute to Spain’s El Grove. He commented that, attending Sheinbaum’s inauguration as a representative of the European Union, he found “an absolute willingness to address this issue” among Mexican officials.
Borrell, who was the Spanish government’s Minister of Foreign Affairs in 2019, recalled that foreign policy, like any political issue in Spain, is not made by the Spanish king.
“Foreign policy, that is part of foreign policy. Like any other policy it is not made by the king in our constitutional system. It is made by the government, I was part of the government and hence, am responsible for the response or non-response given to that letter with the best intention of avoiding unnecessary disputes and escalating into dialectical confrontation with a sister. A country like Mexico, with which we are connected by family, cultural, all kinds of relations. And that is the message that I have given to my Mexican negotiators and I have found an absolute willingness to overcome this problem, to strengthen our positions and to work together for the future.
CNN has requested comment from the Mexican Foreign Ministry on the statements of both King Felipe VI and Borrell, and is awaiting a response.