MEXICO CITY, March 19 (Reuters) - Mexico has invited Spain's King Felipe VI to attend the World Cup opening match, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Thursday. Mexico's government
Mexico invites Spain's king to World Cup opening match
Diplomatic Relations and World Cup Invitation
By Raul Cortes and Aida Pelaez-Fernandez
Invitation to King Felipe VI
MEXICO CITY, March 19 (Reuters) - Mexico has invited Spain's King Felipe VI to attend the World Cup opening match, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Thursday, marking a thawing in relations after she did not invite him to her inauguration ceremony.
Role of Gabriela Cuevas and Diplomatic Outreach
Mexico's government representative for the 2026 FIFA World Cup Gabriela Cuevas sent invitations to all the countries with which Mexico has diplomatic relations, and among those invited was Felipe VI, Sheinbaum told a daily press conference.
Historical Context and Recent Developments
Colonial-Era Tensions
Sheinbaum did not invite Felipe VI to her 2024 inauguration after the monarch declined to apologize for colonial-era abuses.
Spain's Colonial Legacy
In the 16th to 18th centuries, Spain ruled one of the world's largest ever empires, spanning five continents, including much of Latin America, where it practiced forced labor, land expropriation and violence against Indigenous peoples.
King Felipe VI's Acknowledgment
Felipe VI unexpectedly acknowledged abuses in his country's colonial past on Monday.
International Reactions
The king's comments followed a speech by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Munich last month, in which Rubio criticized a decline of "great Western empires" and said Washington did not want allies "shackled by guilt and shame."
Sheinbaum's Response
Sheinbaum said on Tuesday the latest comments were a conciliatory gesture on the king's part, but "it wasn't everything we would have wanted."
World Cup Opening Match Details
Mexico will play South Africa in the World Cup's opening match, which is scheduled for June 11 in Azteca Stadium - where Pele dazzled with Brazil in 1970 and Maradona's "hand of God" propelled Argentina to glory in 1986.
(Reporting by Raul Cortes and Aida Pelaez-Fernandez; Editing by Sarah Morland, Kylie Madry, Rod Nickel)
