The president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, once again criticized the government of Claudia Sheinbaum, questioning the insecurity plaguing Mexico and the apologies it is demanding from Spain for the Conquest.
Ayuso stated in a message posted on the social network X that “security in Mexico is worse than ever” and criticized the fact that, at the same time, the demand for an apology from Spain for events that occurred more than 500 years ago continues.
Her comment referred to a segment of the program La Noche en 24H, in which journalist Xavier Fortes interviewed Mexican historian Juan Miguel Zunzunegui, who maintains that Spain should not apologize for the Conquest led by Hernán Cortés.
Zunzunegui accused the Sheinbaum government of using this historical debate as a distraction from the violence in the country, citing high murder rates.
Insecurity has been one of the main challenges since Sheinbaum assumed the presidency after Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s term. She even reinforced her security strategy against organized crime after the death of drug trafficker Nemesio Oseguera, “El Mencho.”
The debate over the request for an apology from Spain had lost relevance in recent months. However, it resurfaced after King Felipe VI acknowledged that “abuses” occurred during the Conquest.
Sheinbaum thanked him for the gesture and subsequently invited the monarch to the 2026 World Cup, which will be held this summer in Mexico.
Last week, the president of the Madrid region, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, asserted that the “abuses” were those committed against the indigenous population by the Aztec and Mayan peoples, who understood sacrifices as part of their rituals.
Díaz Ayuso reacted to the words of King Felipe VI, who stated that there was “much abuse” during the Conquest of America and that when certain events are studied and understood with today’s criteria and values, “obviously they cannot make us feel proud,” although, she said, they must be understood in their proper context.
“It was necessary to civilize and bring to the New World a different way of life and an understanding that life is sacred,” Díaz Ayuso replied.
The president argued that King Felipe VI’s words were spoken in a pseudo-private setting and that the conversation on this topic needs to be much broader. She agreed with him that “the past cannot be viewed through the lens of the present.”
Ayuso insisted on expressing her great pride in the Hispanic legacy in America, where universities, good customs, a way of life, a culture, a religion, and a community that today unites 600 million people.
“Spain has been the nation that has understood miscegenation as part of its great work,” he concluded.
Source: elfinanciero
