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Forgetting Columbus

Across the Americas, Columbus Day and Dia de la Raza are disappearing, while holidays that celebrate pre-colonial heritage are coming to predominate.

In Bolivia — where President Evo Morales is indigenous, and the nation’s population is majority indigenous — Columbus Day has been known since 2011 as Decolonization Day.

It celebrates Bolivia’s successful creation of a plurinational state that recognizes as official the languages and cultural expressions of all its peoples — a concept that Morales is pushing forward in a general project for Latin America.

And Bolivia is not alone. Since 2002, other countries have also cast aside Columbus.

Nicaragua and Venezuela now have a Day of Indigenous Resistance on their calendars, Argentina offers the Day of Respect for Cultural Diversity, and Uruguay promotes the Day of Cultural Diversity.

Source: Telesur TV

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