Columbus Day Protests Flare Up in Chile

A Mapuche woman in Chile. (Wikipedia)

Columbus Day, observed on the second Monday of October, has been met with resistance from indigenous populations in Chile. Otherwise known as the Day of the Meeting of Two Worlds, this controversial holiday has led to protests in Santiago, where thousands of demonstrators took to the streets to demand change. Various political groups that supported indigenous rights were also in attendance.

This year, indigenous protesters in Chile had two main goals. They demanded the end of the detainment of indigenous activists who had been imprisoned for resisting environmentally damaging government projects, such as copper mining, on indigenous land. The protestors also fought for the increased inclusion of indigenous people in Chilean society, including through more indigenous rights and the return of stolen land. Demonstrators additionally took part in the protest to show their pride in their native heritage. 

Among the various events at the demonstration were prayers, dances, and speeches expressing appreciation for indigenous cultures. To kick off the event, a letter from indigenous activist Alberto Curamil was read that called attention to the unwelcome presence of large corporations on indigenous lands. "Today we reaffirm that there is nothing to celebrate on these dates, but that we must make visible all the resistance that the community has made to the attacks of destruction that are being carried out by large national and international companies in our territory," Curamil wrote.

The protest was far from peaceful, however. A bank was set on fire by protesters, and the rally resulted in police officers using tear gas and water cannons to subdue the crowd. 

Chile has a history of protests on the Day of the Meeting of Two Worlds. The annual protests are often planned by the Mapuche, Chile’s largest indigenous group, who strongly believe that the land was stolen from them. In 2013, indigenous populations demonstrated in order to advocate for further political self-determination. The Mapuche have been persecuted under a law instituted during Augusto Pinochet’s regime, which labels them as terrorists and threats to the government of Chile and subjects them to harsh punishments. 

According to Ben Emmerson, the United Nations special investigator on human rights, the law regarding the Mapuche “has been applied in a confusing and arbitrary way, which has turned into a real injustice that has impaired the right to a fair trial. And it has been perceived as stigmatizing and delegitimizing of the Mapuche territorial demands and protests.” The law has also been on the receiving end of pushback from international organizations such as Amnesty International.

At the international level, Columbus Day was first replaced by Indigenous Peoples’ Day, which commemorates indigenous history, at the 1977 UN Conference in Geneva, Switzerland. In 2007, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was adopted. 

Opponents of the name change claim that Christopher Columbus’ contributions should not be erased from history. However, the many protests that have erupted throughout North and South America have shown that this reasoning is not accepted by many.