Historical memory that turns on the 12 October 1492 It is different from the perspective. Definitely, this event was a significant event for humanity, The distinction is that the ruling classes have perpetrated in recent years 523 years the speech on the "Discovery of America" and the figure of Columbus as a hero that the European imperialists promote and honor in streets and monuments with his name, in the history books, in the contents of the school curriculum, among other things.
The arrival of Columbus in America was the starting point for European colonial domination in the world., which also entails the perfect opening for the installation of capitalism. Contact between peoples is not the real reason for celebrating the ruling classes, what is glorified in this great historical scam is the enormous global growth of the capitalist system in the world, which was made possible by the blatant plunder of America's riches, which is reflected and enhanced in the figure of Christopher Columbus.
Columbus was an invader, a thief, a slave trader, organizer of the rape of indigenous women, a religious fanatic who, according to Bartolomé De Las Casas, He was the "chosen one of God" and from that condition, every cause and motive was valid and justified.
The socio-economic situation that Spain was going through during the 15th century is the scenario that determines the need for the Spanish crown to send Columbus in search of wealth to new territories. Those who undertook these trips not only had a desire to transcend as conquerors, the main motivation was the ambition to own land that would expand their economic power, military and religious. This is how the "Discovery of America" proposal becomes one of the largest projects to transfer wealth of humanity., and the methods to accomplish this, were thought from the logic of one of the most brutal societies, intolerant and reactionary of history.
Columbus's first voyage made in 1942 It also meant the first transatlantic slave trade, bringing indigenous people from the Caribbean as slaves to Spain after each expedition. Product of the genocide of the indigenous people who lived there, in 1518 Spanish ships brought the first shipment of African slaves from the shores of Guinea to the Caribbean. In the process of European colonization, the invaders plundered the wealth that belonged to the native cultures of America and then forced armies of slaves to create new wealth at gunpoint.. The first sugar and tobacco plantations were installed in the Caribbean and later throughout the territory, which was also a source of business and wealth through the subjugation of slave labor. Indigenous and African were sold and scattered throughout the continent.
From the stories of Columbus's trips it can be seen that his motivations are not based on an adventurous spirit or courage in the face of new challenges.. Quite the opposite, this character was driven by the desire to loot, to subdue and exterminate anyone who considered inferior and interposed in their "missions". Columbus's methods were applied everywhere the Europeans arrived. The Spanish were followed by the Portuguese, dutch, english, french and russian. The more wealth Europe accumulated, poverty plagued the Indigenous world. The entire historical period of European colonization was fueled by the slavery and death of Indians and Africans in the Americas. This added to the demonization of ancestral practices and the imposition of false beliefs from the logic of religious fanaticism.
Facing all of the above, the 12 October becomes a celebration that glorifies oppression, genocide and slavery. This episode in history is not part of the past, the social relations and cultural patterns imposed by an invading culture are part of the heritage brought by the colonizers and continue to this day.
As an example of this, the model that germinates from sugar plantations (and later tobacco, cotton and cocoa) in the Caribbean and Latin America, served as the basis for Europe's economy, in particular the use of slaves responds to a market logic which establishes the criteria of the current world economy, low cost labor for maximum profit generation. It is not by chance that the institutionalization of slavery between the 15th and 18th centuries was due solely to the dynamics of the markets., in conjunction with monarchies and religion, institutions that rationalize submission, they validate and justify it, installing with this the concept of "inferior race", granting moral and social sanctions to those who transgress the established codes. The domination of a few families that control the main monopolies over small farmers, workers and workers in unequal conditions, it is undoubtedly a current panorama.
Another example of this, is that from the colonization of America a new type of society is installed in which the European population is the dominant population, valuations and stereotypes towards "white" and "black" also come from there. Where in addition the pattern of social relations originates in a vertical and paternalistic way (slaver and slave; patron and pawn) which constitutes, in strongly unequal societies, the exchange of labor benefits for protection and sustenance. These links through time are what today is called social position. The pattern of power relations is from where social relations are culturally constructed.
At present, various social movements are being raised around the world in defense of the rights of peoples and in memory of the atrocities that the arrival of the invaders to America brought with them.. Breaking violent social ties and keeping memory alive is part of a fight for the recovery of truth and justice.
*By Sista Susy *
