OREANDA-NEWS. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador sent a letter to King of Spain Felipe VI and Pope Francis to apologize for the crimes committed by the Spaniards during the conquest of Mexico and during the colonial period. About this  the head of state told in a video taken against the backdrop of the ruins of Komalkalko - the ancient city of the Mayan civilization. The president also added that an apology is the only possible solution for achieving complete reconciliation on the eve of the 500th anniversary of the fall of Tenochtitlan - the capital of the Aztec empire - in 2021.

“Massacres and oppression were committed. The so-called conquest was conducted with a sword and a cross. They built their churches on top of [local] temples, ” the Guardian quotes Lopez Obrador. 

In addition, the president noted, that "we are talking about crimes against the indigenous population". According to Obrador, they are now known as human rights violations, including the killing and subordination of peoples. “It was an invasion, many injustices were committed,” he pointed out. 

The Spanish government has already expressed regret over the proposal of Mexico. In Madrid, they also strongly rejected the argument of Obrador, stating that the arrival of the Spaniards in the region 500 years ago cannot be assessed by current standards.

Spanish conquistadors captured and destroyed the city in 1521, after an unsuccessful attempt in 1519. In 2015, in Bolivia, Pope Francis apologized for the crimes of the Catholic Church during the colonization of North and South America.