October 12: Mexico reactivates “state indigenism” to erase Christopher Columbus from the capital

Christopher Columbus or how to get rid of it: the power of the nationalist left in Mexico he settled his last accounts with Spain, an important economic partner, with indigenous speeches that marked a year of historical commemorations.

It is Tuesday, October 12, a national holiday in Spain to celebrate the “discovery” of America, attributed to Christopher Columbus in 1492.

But in Mexico the authorities prefer to speak of the “Day of the Pluricultural Nation”, the same one in which a year ago the statue of the Genoese admiral was removed from the square that bears his name in the capital, after threats from activists that it would be demolished.

On the empty pedestal, feminist groups erected the silhouette of a woman with a raised fist towards the glass and steel skyscrapers of Paseo de la Reforma, mirror of Mexican capitalism.

The protesters renamed that point as “place of women in struggle.”

The effigy of Columbus should be replaced by that of an indigenous Olmec woman, said Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum, a partner and close friend of the country’s president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, known as AMLO by his acronym.

It is a tribute to five centuries of “indigenous resistance,” added Sheinbaum, the granddaughter of Jews who left Eastern Europe in the 20th century.

Six meters high and erected in 1877, the statue of Columbus is being restored. “He cannot return to his place,” historian and anthropologist Federico Navarrete told AFP.

“Trying to impose that colonialist, racist narrative (…), no longer makes sense”he added.

But the work of the French sculptor Charles Cordier cannot disappear from the collective memory either. It should be relocated to the elegant Polanco district, as decided by the Mexico City Monuments Committee.

“The government entertains the gallery. How will the fact that they remove or return the statue of Columbus improve the lives of Mexicans? “ Ana Luz Trejo Lardo says indignantly, during a visit to the Museum of Anthropology.

“State indigenism”

Mexico This year commemorated the bicentennial of its independence and 500 years of indigenous resistance, as the conquest in this country is also called.

On the occasion of these anniversaries, López Obrador reiterated his request for “forgiveness” to Spain and the Vatican for the excesses against the “native peoples” after the conquest.

Pope Francis spoke of the “sins” of the Church in Mexico, in a letter to the episcopate read by the president during the independence celebrations, on September 27.

Francisco also alluded to “actions that more recently” affected “religious sentiment” in Mexico, where the Church is shaken by cases of pedophilia as in many countries.

Instead, the Spanish government of Pedro Sánchez (center-left) was silent in Madrid, where the right unleashed against AMLO.

“I am not going to join the ranks of those who ask for forgiveness”, asserted the former Spanish ruler José María Aznar (1996-2004), who made fun of the Spanish name of the Mexican leader.

“Andrés for the Aztecs; Manuel on the part of the Mayans; López is a mix “, he laughed with laughter from leaders of the Popular Party (PP) on September 30. AMLO refrained from arguing.

These controversies, however, do not shake the foundations of another monument on Paseo de la Reforma, the tower of BBVA, the Spanish bank that largely dominates the Mexican market. Spain is Mexico’s fourth European trading partner behind Italy, Germany and France, although far from the United States and China.

However, the Spanish electricity giant Iberdrola could suffer from a reform of the AMLO sector, which intends to reserve 56% of the market to the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE, state).

Apologies with facts

In the name of “historical reconciliation”, López Obrador also apologized to the Mayan and Yaqui peoples, victims of “state crimes” under the dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz (1884-1911).

These expressions “are an extension of the indigenismo of the State. These phenomena and symbolisms have always been used, although in fact there are projects that affect indigenous peoples such as the Mayan Train, ”Yásnaya Aguilar, indigenous linguist and writer, told AFP.

It refers to a tourist train that López Obrador drives in the Yucatan Peninsula. In May, communities filed complaints against companies for fraud and human rights violations.

A national tourism fund (Fonatur) had to terminate its contract with an involved company. “Forgiveness will be useless if there is no change in those policies and practices that affect indigenous communities so much,” concludes Navarrete.

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