Christopher Columbus

Alberto Gutierrez, a Cuban exile living in Miami, answers my question about the interpretation of Columbus in the textbooks of various countries: "When I was a boy, the voyages of Columbus filled many pages of all Cuban history books. Since Cuba was discovered on October 27, 1492, the emphasis in our schools was on that of the year. I remember my first composition (a simple essay of a few lines) when I was a fourth grader: the immortal caravels Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria, the lookout Rodrigo de Triana shouting "Tierra! Tierra!" off San Salvador (today Watling Island in the Bahamas) and days later the landing in the northern coast of Cuba's Oriente Province. However, the most awesome history lesson that year was the 1762 English invasion of Havana, at least to me. I learned more about Columbus until I reached the third year of high school. Curiously there were no history classes at Mariel Naval Academy, but I didn't mind. After all, I had enough to do with calculus, astronomy and other complicated subjects.

For Cubans, October 12 was El Dia de la Raza simply because on that day in 1492 Spaniards met the Indians of San Salvador.We never followed the Mexican definition of "la raza". After Castro entered Havana in 1959 Cuban history, like everything else, was a target of the revolutionary wave. Eventually there were new interpretations, omissions and, of course, lots of propaganda. For instance, all of a sudden Jose Marti was proclaimed the inspiration, the spiritual force that had guided Castro in the Moncada Barracks assault.As a result, today most young Cubans know little history ,and some even dislike Jose Marti for his supposed link to castroism.That is part of the castroist educational system so many foreigners praise! Eventually Castro eliminated El Dia de la Raza, just like many other troublesome holidays. And Columbus? Well, perhaps at Palos de Moguer somebody remembers him".

RH:
I wonder about Rodrigo de Triana. Was he from Triana, the gypsy quarter of Seville? Was he a gypsy? After a long argument which I did not follow, scholars decided that Columbus first landed at the island he called San Salvador, now identified as Watling Island in the Bahamas. Even that name is confusing. To affirm that claim, the name San Salvador is now preferred. As for Watling, there is a place called Watling's Castle near the southwestern tip of the island, but I suspect that it is the Anglicized version of the Arawak name, Guanahan. Not only does the tiny island proudly assert its historical claim, there are two Columbus monuments, one on the east coast, one on the west. Which marks the exact spot where Columbus landed? The sale of postcards and other tourist kitsch, and thus the prosperity of their vendors, depends on this. Has any WAISer visited San Salvador? The natives who greeted Columbus were the Arawaks, and he called them Indians, since he thought he had reached India. The Arawaks were a large group, occupying much of the Caribbean and northern South America, with as fairly developed culture. They were expelled from much of the territory by the fierce Caribs. It is part of the Black Legend to blame the Spaniards, but, as elsewhere in the Americas, there was fierce internecine warfare among "Indian" tribes.

As for Columbus in eastern Cuba, which Columbus discovered on October 27, perhaps Alberto can tell us if any place claims to be the exact spot of the landing. In any case, it was a brief visit Columbus dispatched men to find the court of the Mongol emperor of China and gold, proof that he was geographically bewildered.

Alberto talks of "the most awesome history lesson, the 1762 English invasion of Havana". Cubans are the only people who remember the event, an episode in the French and Indians War (1756--63), known in England as the Seven Years War. Britain and its American colonies were fighting the French, with whom Spain was allied. In 1762 Havana was captured by a British fleet under Admiral Sir George Pocock and the Earl of Abermarle, which suffered heavy losses. The next year it was returned to Spain in exchange for the Floridas. It is possible that some American school children hear about it in connection with the history of Florida, but generally it is forgotten in the US and the UK. Similarly, few English people know that Nelson bombarded Copenhagen, but it is a big event in Danish history. Chileans have vague memories of the War of the Pacific, but Bolivians are still filled with resentment about the loss of their coast. Vae victis perhaps, but it is the vanquished in whom the flame of resentment burns.

Few Americans would recognize the name of Jose Marti, but in Cuba he is a national hero. It is as difficult to get a sober assessment of him in Cuba as it is to get one of Madero in Mexico. Born in 1853, he was killed in the revolutionary fighting in 1895, before the US entered the war. He traveled as an exile in Europe and America and wrote essays collected under the title Our America (1891). While in New York in 1892 he founded the Cuba Revolutionary Party. He wrote poetry, including Versos Sencillos (1891) and children`s stories, which were collected after his death under the title The Golden Age (1898). There is no national hero quite like him.

So Castro has eliminated Columbus Day, the Day of the Race? Obviously Hugo Chavez of Venesuela was imitating him when he did he same. Perhaps they decided that Columbus was too divisive a person, and he seems to be less mentioned since the fiasco of 1992. Alberto says ironically that he may be remembered in Pakos de Moguer, the small Andalusian port from which he set sail. Why Columbus chose to sail from there is a story in itself.