Page 12 - ARUBA TODAY

A12 WORLD NEWS
Wednesday 27 March 2019
Mexico president calls for truth commission on conquest

By MARK STEVENSON stated on a plaque erect-
Associated Press ed in the 1960s at Mexico
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexi- City's Tlatelolco Square,
can President Andres Man- commemorating the final
uel Lopez Obrador asked battle on August 13, 1521,
Spain on Tuesday to set up when the Aztec empire fell
a kind of fact-finding com- to the Spaniards.
mission on the 1519-1521 "It was neither a triumph or
conquest of Mexico to de- a defeat, it was the painful
termine what kind of apol- birth of the mestizo (mixed-
ogy is warranted. race) country that is Mexi-
Spanish Foreign Minister Jo- co," the plaque reads.
sep Borrell quickly knocked Indeed, prior to Lopez Ob-
the idea down, saying, rador's demand Monday
"Obviously Spain will not is- for an apology from Spain,
sue these apologies that most Mexicans appeared
have been requested." content to let the anniver-
"It seems a little strange sary pass unheeded.
that apologies are being Rosa Maria Gonzalez More-
demanded now for things no, 61, a primary teacher,
that happened 500 years had walked by Mexico
ago" Borrell said during a City's Jesus Nazareno
trip to Argentina. "In the In this Friday, March 8, 2019 file photo, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador answers church for years and never
same sense that we are questions from journalists at his daily 7 a.m. press conference at the National Palace in Mexico knew it held Cortes' tomb.
not going to demand that City. In fact, the metal plaque
France apologize for the Associated Press marking what is thought
actions of Napoleon's sol- to be Cortes' final resting
diers when they invaded wants the commission to takes," Lopez Obrador said Conquest." place is barely visible near
Spain" determine what abuses Tuesday. "That way, we will But the Spanish govern- the altar. It wasn't until a
Lopez Obrador's proposal were committed, so Spain know what happened 500 ment has argued that "the week ago, when Gonzalez
to stir up old ghosts has can apologize. Most of years ago, how things hap- arrival, 500 years ago, of Moreno attended the re-
drawn some puzzled re- Mexico's indigenous popu- pened, if there were abus- Spaniards to what is today hearsal for her godson's first
actions in Mexico as well. lation died within decades es or not." Mexican territory cannot communion, that another
Some wondered if Mexico after the Spanish arrived, Few would seriously doubt be judged in the light of parishioner told her about
would demand apologies largely by diseases carried there were abuses by contemporary consider- the tomb.
from France or the United from Europe. Spanish conquistador Her- ations." "Imagine, I walked by here
States — both of which also "What we want to see is if nan Cortes from the time For about a century, Mex- every day for years and
invaded Mexico — and we can put together a joint he fought his first battle ico had been willing to let never knew it was where
some noted Lopez Ob- group to do some fact- against Chontal Indians slide the assessment of his- Cortes was buried," said
rador's grandfather was finding about what hap- in Tabasco around March toric guilt associated with Gonzalez Moreno. "You
Spanish. pened, and humbly, based 25, 1519, marking the start the Conquest. have to learn about history,
Lopez Obrador said he on that, accept our mis- of what Mexicans call "The The official philosophy was the good and the bad.q

Ex-Brazilian President Temer released from jail after 5 days

By DIANE JEANTET The backroom dealmaker occasions, lawmakers re-
MAURICIO SAVARESE and seven other people fused to authorize pros-
Associated Press were jailed on Thursday ecution of Temer. In Brazil,
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — For- on corruption charges in a the prosecution of a sitting
mer Brazilian President Mi- decision that even some of president requires a vote of
chel Temer was released his adversaries criticized. At Congress.
from jail on Monday, less the time, Judge Marcelo Athie's ruling could still be
than a week after he was Bretas argued they be held reversed by his colleagues
arrested in the sprawling so they couldn't destroy ev- on the same court, which
Car Wash corruption probe idence. had been expected to de-
that has ensnared many Federal prosecutors said cide on Temer's future only
of the country's top politi- they will appeal Athie's on Wednesday.
cians and business leaders. decision and seek a new "As I examined the case
Temer, who will still face arrest of the unpopular for- I verified that there is no
several corruption charges mer president. justification to wait for two
while free, left his cell in a Temer became president more days for the decision,"
facility near Rio de Janeiro in August 2016 after Presi- the judge said. In this June 1, 2018 file photo, Brazil's President Michel Temer
for an undisclosed location dent Dilma Roussef was The ruling also said Bretas' pauses during a speech at the Planalto Presidential Palace, in
after an order from a fed- impeached and removed decision to arrest Temer Brasilia, Brazil.
eral judge. from office, and his term was based on "assumptions Associated Press
Judge Antonio Ivan Athie ended on Jan. 1, when on old facts."
said earlier there's no need President Jair Bolsonaro The Car Wash probes also tion and money launder- only left his prison cell in the
to jail the 78-year-old politi- was sworn in. led to the jailing of former ing. city of Curitiba to testify in
cian because he doesn't His administration was President Luiz Inacio Lula Once hugely popular, Da other suits and to attend his
pose a risk to the investiga- clouded by corruption al- da Silva, who is serving a Silva, who governed be- 7-year-old grandson's fu-
tion into the charges. legations, though on two 12-year sentence corrup- tween 2003 and 2010, has neral earlier in February.q