New U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Christopher Landau is facing some blowback over his criticism of the ideology of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo.
Landau, who was confirmed to his post last month, wrote in Spanish on Sunday that he admires Kahlo’s “free and Bohemian spirit” but does not understand her “passion for Marxism/Leninism/Stalinism.”
“Didn’t she know of the horrors committed in name of this ideology?” he added.
{mosads}The tweet received about 2,000 replies, 1,300 retweets and 7,700 likes as of Tuesday afternoon, with some commenters agreeing with Landau while others criticized both the ambassador and historical instances of U.S. interventionism.
The Mexican Communist Party replied to Landau’s tweet, writing in Spanish that “comrade Frida” was a Marxist-Leninist and admirer of former Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin because she was “consistent with humanism, the search for democracy and freedom of the workers and people of Mexico.”
The U.S. Embassy in Mexico told Reuters it did not have additional comment on the debate.
Kahlo was a famed Mexican painter who openly supported both Marxism and Stalin, who is considered responsible for millions of deaths under his regime.
Reuters reported that the ambassador’s Twitter following was about 40,000 before the tweet. As of Tuesday afternoon, it had increased to nearly 79,000.