LEGACY OF COLUMBUS A LIGHTNING ROD FOR PROTESTS ACROSS THE AMERICAS
	  id RAA00287; Mon, 13 Oct 1997 17:09:13 -0400


Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit

    Copyright 1997 by Agence France-Presse
    Mon, 13 Oct 1997 4:34:54 PDT

   WASHINGTON, Oct 13 (AFP) - Protestors across the Americas marked
the 505th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' discovery of the New
World by holding rallies against government social policies and
smashing statues of the explorer.
   Rallies were held in several cities in the United States and in
Mexico, and as well as Honduras. In Ecuador thousands of Andean and
jungle indians gathered for a massive protest Monday that will
include a "capture" of the capital city.
   In the United States there were large Columbus Day protest
marches in New York, Los Angeles, and Austin, Texas. More rallies
may be held Monday, a federal holiday, when Columbus Day is
celebrated.
   Topping the list of grievances are what many in the Hispanic
community see as unfair immigration laws that are selectively
enforced.
   "I've been working here (in the United States) for years," said
a woman at the New York protest who only gave the first name of
Lucia. "My children were born here and I pay high taxes. (The
government has) no right to throw us out."
   The New York rally was organized by a group called "500 Years of
Resistance," and included natives from north and south America.
   In Tegucigalpa a crowd gathered at the downtown Colon Plaza --
the Spanish name for Columbus -- to smash a stature of explorer.
   Rally organizer Salvador Zuniga said the protest was called
because Columbus "started one of the biggest holocausts in
history."
   He said the Genoa-born navigator was responsible for "the death
of 70 million indigenous people and the most disgraceful plundering
of the indigenous peoples."
   In Mexico, thousands marched in Columbus Day protest rallies in
Mexico City and in two cities in the southern state of Chiapas.
   In Chiapas some 5,000 Mayan natives marched through the city of
San Cristobal demanding land and the fulfillment of the government
peace promises with the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN).
   An equal number marched through the the town of Ocosingo, also
in Chiapas, with similar demands.
   Unlike previous years, no EZLN members or leaders participated.
   Protesters also demanded the withdrawl of the army from the
indigenous communities throughout the region, where they have been
stationed since the outbreak of the Zapatista uprising in January
1994.
   In Ecuador, some 30,000 natives gathered on the outskirts of
Quito for a peaceful "capture" of the city Monday.
   The indians plan to set up a makeshift congress that will hand
the government proposals to reform the constitution.
   The protesters will be supported by unionized industrial
workers, oil workers from the jungle oil wells, and activist civil
society groups.
   The indians and workers have been moving towards Quito from
Andean communities and jungle villages since late September. They
have been fed and aided by supporters along the way.

 
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