RPT: REVIEW - Mexico Asks Spain To Apologize For 16th Century Brutal Colonization

BRUSSELS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd April, 2019) Mexico made headlines last week, when President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador asked Madrid to apologize for the horrors of the Spanish conquest of almost 500 years ago.

Lopez Obrador said last week he had sent letters to Spain's King Felipe VI and Pope Francis at the Vatican, asking for an apology. The Mexican president added that he, in turn, would apologize for the cruelty toward the indigenous people and Chinese migrants in independent Mexico.

The Spanish government strongly rejected the demand for an apology.

"The arrival, 500 years ago, of Spaniards on the current Mexican territory cannot be judged by contemporary considerations," the government of Pedro Sanchez said in a official statement.

The Church has already addressed the issue in the past. During a trip to South America in 2015, Pope Francis apologized "not only for the offenses of the Church itself, but for crimes against indigenous peoples during what is known as the conquest of America." In 2016, this time in Mexico, he called for "forgiveness" over the exclusion of indigenous peoples from history.

A number of countries have apologized for the actions of the forefathers, but the topic remains sensitive. If the events are recent, a demand for financial compensation may be a logical next step after one side admits the wrongdoing. For instance, Greece has recently called on Germany to pay reparations for the World War II damage. The German government said simply that the issue of the reparations was closed, while German newspapers were a bit more expressive and critical of the demand.

Japan has repeatedly apologized for abuses committed by the imperial troops on the Korean Peninsula and in China in the first half of the 20th century. In 2013, the Netherlands issued an official apology for summary executions in Indonesia during decolonization in the 1940s. In 2008, Italy made a solemn apology to Libya and pledged to pay the African country $5 billion over the next 25 years as compensation for the colonization. Belgium apologized to the Congolese people in 2002.

Canada has apologized to its own indigenous people, Australia has asked Aborigines for forgiveness.

Given that wars make up a hefty portion of any history book, the question arises of how far back one should go in demanding and offering apologies.

"The Roman conquest and colonization of the Gauls and of Spain meant a cultural genocide. Italy should apologize for that! And what about the invasions of the Vandals and Wisighots later? Is it Sweden or Ukraine that should apologize? ... What about the apologies of the Cromagnons to the Neanderthals?" Javier Nart, a member of the European Parliament and of the center-right Ciudadanos party, told Sputnik.

The politician believes that history should stay in the past.

"Of course, Spain has many dark pages in its history. And other dazzling ones. Like every country. But the past is for historians," Nart said.

However, another member of the European Parliament, Josep Maria Terricabras, argues that Spain should apologize and thank Mexico for welcoming and protecting Spaniards escaping Francoist Spain. Terricabras warned against jokingly comparing the Spanish conquest of Mexico to Napoleon's campaign in Spain itself.

"The Spanish colonization of Latin America was brutal. The idea was that the indigenous peoples were not enemies, but inferior beings. Spain tried to make them disappear. What Spain should do is present a general excuse to all the countries of Latin America for its colonization. It does not need to be done individually to each country, but a general recognition of the brutality of our behavior then would be welcome," Terricabras told Sputnik.

The King of Spain has recently received another demand. On Friday, the Ishbilia mosque in Spain's Sevilla issued a statement demanding an apology from the King of Spain for the persecution that the Muslim Community in the country had experienced in the past, at the orders of the Spanish monarchs.