No More Invasion, Occupation, or Conquest. Controversy Surrounds the Commemoration of the 500th Anniversary of the Conquest and the 200th Anniversary of Mexican Independence

Abstract

2021 marked the 500th anniversary of the fall of Tenochtitlan, the capital of the powerful Mexican Triple Alliance, and the 200th anniversary of Mexican independence (the signing of the Plan of Igualá and the Treaties of Córdoba, which sealed the liberation process that had been ongoing since 1810). Mexico’s then-president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador (representing the left-wing, populist Morena party), did not hesitate to exploit such crucial dates to construct a narrative, with nationalist overtones, characteristic of the historical politics of his presidency: he invoked the pre-Hispanic and colonial heritage, appealed the unity, sovereignty, and freedom of the Mexican nation, while simultaneously raising controversial issues of injustices suffered by Mexicans and demanding a reckoning with history. However, the president’s facade of portraying himself as a “protector of the oppressed” and “guardian of justice” was met with widespread criticism not only from political circles but also from academia and the Mexican people themselves. The president’s actions were described as abuses of national history and political manipulation. It can be argued that referring to the past and demanding a public apology served primarily the short-term political goals of the Morena party and the president himself (to force development projects pushed by the government and the context of the election campaign and federal elections that took place in 2021). In contrast, public acts of reconciliation only masked the fundamental problems of the state, including the persistent political and economic marginalisation of Indigenous communities.