Colombian President Gustavo Petro said that Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortez carried out genocide comparable to the deeds of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and the number of his victims numbered in the millions, as in the case of Adolf Hitler.
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“Hernan Cortez carried out a genocide comparable in scale to what Netanyahu committed, or even worse. The number of victims of the murders committed by Hitler and Cortez is in the millions,” Petro wrote on the social network X.
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The Colombian leader’s statement was made in response to a report by the Spanish newspaper El País, which reported that the chairman of the autonomous community of Madrid, Isabel Diaz Ayuso, accused Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum of allegedly “expelling” her from the country after the controversy surrounding the conquest of America and the figure of conquistador Hernan Cortez.
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Earlier, the Mexican Interior Ministry denied Ayuso’s statements about alleged obstacles during her trip, stressing that the visit took place “in an atmosphere of complete freedom.”
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The trip of the head of the Madrid region caused protests in Mexico after her intention to honor the memory of Cortez. Local activists have also launched a petition demanding that the remains of the conquistador be exhumed and handed over to Spain.
