Spain recognizes the pain and injustice' caused to Mexico's Indigenous peoples

"Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said on Friday that the history shared between Spain and Mexico, like all human history, has its light and dark sides. There has been pain and injustice toward the Indigenous peoples. There was injustice, and it is right to acknowledge it and regret it. This is part of our shared history; we cannot deny or forget it."

"He made these remarks during the opening of the major exhibition called La mitad del mundo. La mujer en el Mexico indigena (Half the World: Women in Indigenous Mexico) at the Instituto Cervantes, one of four venues showcasing over 400 works of art lent by the Mexican government of Claudia Sheinbaum, which is on display until March. This exhibition is a milestone in our relations and our brotherhood, Albares continued. The deeper meaning of what we are inaugurating goes far beyond these pieces."

"The foreign minister also recognized the women whom Sheinbaum has been honoring throughout 2025, which Mexico declared the Year of Indigenous Women: Today we reclaim the voices of so many women who were silenced. A fair recognition of who they were and who they are. Spain has thus taken a fundamental step in its rapprochement with Mexico after relations between the two countries which share centuries of history became frosty."

Spain's foreign minister said the shared history between Spain and Mexico contains both light and dark sides, including pain and injustice toward Indigenous peoples, and said it is right to acknowledge and regret those injustices. He opened the exhibition La mitad del mundo. La mujer en el Mexico indigena at the Instituto Cervantes, one of four venues displaying over 400 works lent by the Mexican government of Claudia Sheinbaum, on display until March. He described the exhibition as a milestone in relations and part of a deeper rapprochement. The foreign minister recognized Mexico's Year of Indigenous Women and the reclamation of silenced voices. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum welcomed the gesture and said forgiveness elevates nations.

Read at english.elpais.com