Columbus Statue Toppled in Venezuela on Day of Indigenous Resistance
By Robun Nieto - Oct. 13, 2009
Caracas, October 13, 2004--Yesterday in Caracas, on what used to becelebrated in Venezuela as the day of the Discovery of America byChristopher Columbus, a group of young men and women tore down thestatue of the 15th Century explorer during this national holiday thatwas renamed the Day of Indigenous Resistance.
The statue was located in downtown Caracas atop a 30 foot highpedestal. Protestors used thick yellow climbing ropes to bring down the100 year old statue of Columbus and dragged the remains throughdowntown Caracas and towards the Teresa Carreño theatre, where hundredsof indigenous people presented their cultural songs and dance to eachother and other supporters commemorating October 12. The protestorsintended to ask indigenous people to bring Columbus to trial after 512years.
While no indigenous groups were involved, a national youth organizationsupports the action. "It was an act of symbolic justice," said AngelMontiel, a member of the Organization of Indigenous Youth of Venezuela.Montiel said that the statue of Columbus symbolized colonialism on thecontinent. "It represented invasion and genocide in our land," Montielsaid.
According to the opposition newspaper "El Universal," protestors hungthe Columbus statue head down from a tree near the Teresa Carreño operahouse and shouted, "Justice for the people, justice for the people!"Caracas police and the National Guard recovered the statue of thefallen Columbus and arrested 5 people.
Caracas mayor Freddy Bernal, a Chavez supporter, condemned the action,saying that the municipal government is looking into changing thesymbols of the city, but not in "anarchic" ways. "These anarchicactions do not accomplish one possible objective. We agree that historyhas to be rewritten and we are doing it. We reject honoring Columbus,but that is one thing and anarchy is another," Bernal said.
Bernal attended an act of symbolic resistance yesterday in downtownCaracas, where indigenous people covered a statue of a pointingColumbus with a white sheet and presented the mayor with a formalrequest to replace the statues of Columbus from the capital city withthose of Venezuelan Chief Guaicaipuro. Bernal accepted the request andsaid he will present the petition to the municipal government ofCaracas, but said the process would take time as the decision is nothis alone to make.
The tearing down of the Columbus statue was compared with that of thefall of the Saddam Hussein statue in Iraq by website aporrea.org. "Justlike the statue of Saddam in Bagdad, that of Columbus the tyrant alsofell this October 12, 2004 in Caracas," the website advertises.
http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news/734<http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news/734>
Comments
First Target & Objecive: "Mckinley Statue Toppled!!!"
I like the idea that they tore it down that's partly equal to the atrocities of genocide. Kaohi