Abstract

RIOS SALOMA, Martín F.. A Letter to the King. The Controversy Surrounding López Obrador’s Letter on the Conquest of Mexico. Estud. hist. mod. contemp. Mex [online]. 2025, n.70, pp.186-213.  Epub July 04, 2025. ISSN 0185-2620.  https://doi.org/10.22201/iih.24485004e.2025.70.78025.

This article analyzes the controversy that emerged in late March 2019 in various Spanish and Mexican media outlets following a letter sent by Mexico’s president Andrés Manuel López Obrador to King Felipe VI of Spain. In the letter, López Obrador invited both governments to jointly reflect on the actions of the Conquest and to offer an apology to Mexican Indigenous groups. The objective is to examine the reactions to this proposal and, through them, the prevailing narratives and images of the conquest of Mexico. The main conclusion is that new academic interpretations of the 16th-century Conquest have yet to reach broader society, which continues to uphold nationalist tropes that underpin contemporary collective identities in both countries. As a result, proposing alternative interpretations generates significant discomfort. The article thus invites reflection on the uses of the past in contemporary societies and the challenges faced by both Spanish and Mexican societies in confronting their colonial past and shared Hispanic heritage.

Keywords : Conquest; Spain; history; historiography; Mexico; press; 16th century; 21st century.

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