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Mexican President Calls on Spain, Pope to Apologize for Colonial Past

HeadlineMar 26, 2019

And in Mexico, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is calling on Spain and the Vatican to apologize for the “abuses” of colonialism. AMLO released a video Monday, speaking in front of the archaeological site of Comalcalco in the state of Tabasco.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador: “I sent a letter to the Spanish king and another letter to Pope Francis for an account of incidents and to ask for an apology to the first peoples for the violations of what is now known as human rights. There were massacres, force, known as the conquest. It was done with the sword and the cross. They raised churches on top of temples.”

The government of Spain has rejected the request, saying events from 500 years ago “cannot be judged in the light of contemporary considerations.”

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