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| Photo Credit :Jonah Gindin |
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| Photo Credit: Luis Noguera |
October 12 2012 the people of Caracas made an effort to
change the course of history and pride in Venezuela.
October 13th used to be
celebrated as Columbus Day in Venezuela in commemoration of the discovery of America,
but now it shall be known as the Day of Indigenous Resistance as a group of
young men and women tore down the statue of the 15th century explorer as a
symbol of overthrowing oppression. The Pro-Chavez website, aporea.org, reported
that several groups openly claimed responsibility for the action.
Protestors used thick yellow climbing ropes to pull the
statue down off of its thirty foot pedestal located in downtown Caracas, and dragged
it towards a local theater, the Teresa Carreño. Hundreds of people gathered and
commemorated October 12th by preforming songs and dances for one another. Angel
Montel, a member of the Organization of Indigenous Youth of Venezuela spoke
with reporter Robin Nieto at venezuelanalysis.com. "It was an act of symbolic
justice". Montiel said that the
statue of Columbus symbolized colonialism on the continent. "It represented invasion and genocide in
our land”.
The tearing down of the Columbus statue has been compared
with that of the fall of the Saddam Hussein statue in Iraq by aporrea.org. "Just like the statue of Saddam in
Bagdad, that of Columbus the tyrant also fell this October 12, 2004 in Caracas,"
the website advertises. aporrea.org, and several other left-wing websites have
sprung up showing support, for the act of civil disobedience displayed by the
indigenous peoples, such as Occupy News’ official Facebook page publishing a
description of the day, as well as many popular bloggers commenting on the topic,
causing it to go viral particularly at Tumblr.com.
This is just the latest example of the next generation removing the final symbols of oppression and putting their personal stamp on their nations history. Many countries throughout our history have fought to regain their sovereignty from colonialism. Your blog brings to attention the importance of national pride. With declining rates of voters in north america perhaps it is refreshing to see young people who are so passionate for their country. I believe it's important to understand the history of your nation and take pride in past generations.
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