The arrival of the expeditions led by Christopher Columbus on behalf of the Spanish Catholic kings on San Salvador Island, in the Bahamas archipelago, on October 12, 1492, is anything but a day of celebration.
For Spain, this historic date, that of the “discovery of the Americas”, has officially been, since 1982, the national holiday, also called Día de la hispanidad (“Hispanic Day”). Officially, she marks “The beginning of a period of linguistic and cultural projection beyond European limits”. In Latin America, the date of October 12 is also commemorated. But, for several years, this festival, formerly called “Race Day”, has been the subject of debates aimed at emphasizing respect for indigenous communities. On Tuesday, a thousand people marched through the capital of Guatemala and tried to throw a statue of the Genoese navigator to the ground, in a sign of rejection of the October 12 celebrations.
Protesters marched down Reforma Avenue, in an affluent neighborhood on the southern outskirts of the capital, a banner displaying “October 12, day of dignity and indigenous, black and popular resistance” leading the way.
During the three-kilometer march to the former government palace in the historic center of Guatemala City, protesters attempted to topple a bronze statue of Christopher Columbus and damaged a similar statue of the former president José Maria Reina Barrios (1892-1898), erected on the busy avenue.
“We are marching to say that we have nothing to celebrate this October 12 in relation to the conquest, but rather rights to claim”, wrote anonymously on social media. “This day so sadly commemorated is that of the invasion, it speaks of dispossession, theft and multiple violations”, he added.
According to video footage posted on social media, participants placed a rope to pull down the equestrian statue of former President Reina and successfully bent and beheaded it. But they couldn’t do the same with the statue of Christopher Columbus on a sphere representing the world.
Guatemala is the country with the largest indigenous population in Central America, at 42% of the 17 million inhabitants. Indigenous peoples reject the name of “Hispanic Day”, which commemorates the arrival of Columbus in America on October 12, 1492, and defend the “Day of dignity and resistance”.
Spain “offends” America, according to Maduro
Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro has criticized Spain’s celebration of Hispanic Day. “It is an offense to all of America that the King of Spain still celebrates on October 12, the day on which America’s colonialism and the greatest genocide in history began, by celebrating it as a day public holiday, like a so-called civilization day ”Mr. Maduro said.
During a speech to his supporters gathered in front of the presidential palace of Miraflores, he indicated that he would make public “A letter to the King of Spain” in which he will share, “With great respect”, “Reflections from the heart of our people”. According to him, this letter will reflect the indignation experienced by the indigenous peoples.
In Venezuela, since 2002 under the presidency of Hugo Chavez (1999-2013), this date has become the “Indigenous Resistance Day”. A parade was organized in Caracas. “We join the voices that have been raised in America to demand that the King of Spain rectify his position, that he reflect and beg America’s forgiveness for the 300-year genocide”, added Nicolas Maduro.