Mexico was lobbying the government of Victoriano Huerta not to grant any further rights to the Belgian syndicate competing against them. Again in 1926 Belgium was shipping 1,000 tons of steel rails for the railroad. During World War II, Mexico closed its diplomatic legation in Brussels and moved its diplomatic staff to London where the Belgian government in exile was residing. In 1940 Belgian residents of Mexico supported Hubert Pierlot as Prime Minister of Belgium during the Nazi occupation. After the war, Mexico returned to having a resident diplomatic legation in Brussels and in 1954, both nations raised their diplomatic legations to embassies. That same year, Belgium opened its embassy in Mexico on June 5, 1954. In 1980, Mexican protesters peacefully occupied both the Belgian and Danish embassies to demand freedom for political prisoners and better living conditions for Mexicans. In 2018, the Brussels' Flower Carpet featured cultural elements from the state of Guanajuato, Mexico. Including symbolism from the Chupícuaro, Otomí and Purépecha cultures. High-level visits High-level visits from Belgium to Mexico King Baudouin of Belgium (1965) King (then Prince) Philippe of Belgium (1998, 2003, 2009, 2010) Prime Minister Jean-Luc Dehaene (1999) Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt (2002) High-level visits from Mexico to Belgium President Luis Echeverría Álvarez (1973) President Miguel de la Madrid Hurtado (1985) President Carlos Salinas de Gortari (1990, 1993) President Vicente Fox (2002) President Felipe Calderón (2007) President Enrique Peña Nieto (2015) Belgians in Mexico Francis Alÿs, artist known for interdisciplinary works of art, architecture, and social practices. Carlos Francisco de Croix, marqués de Croix of Lille was appointed as viceroy (1766–1771). He suppressed native Mexican rebellions in the north of Mexico and expelled the Jesuits on June 25, 1767. Carlota of Mexico, born Princess Charlotte of Belgium, daughter of King Leopold II of Belgium. She became empress consort at the birth of the Second Mexican Empire, as wife of Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico. Edgar Everaert founder of Club Deportivo Guadalajara, popularly known as Chivas Pedro de Gante, who was active from 1523 to 1572, devised a catechism in rebus form. He organized a craft industry and art education and built hospitals for the native Mexicans. Gustave Maryssael, an electrical engineer started SOFINA. In 1936 he was president of the Companía Mexicana the Luz y Fuerza Motriz and later director-general in 1962. Simon Pereyns of Antwerp is considered the founder of Mexican painting, and some of