Date: 02 Oct 91 16:46 PDT From: cscheiner@igc.org Subject: ips: Caribbean Columbus activities Message-ID: <1563600037@igc.org> /* Written 10:37 am Sep 16, 1991 by newsdesk in cdp:reg.carib */ /* ---------- "CARIBBEAN: REMEMBERING COLUMBUS CON" ---------- */ From: News Desk Subject: CARIBBEAN: REMEMBERING COLUMBUS CON /* Written 9:54 am Sep 16, 1991 by newsdesk in cdp:ips.englibrary */ /* ---------- "CARIBBEAN: REMEMBERING COLUMBUS CON" ---------- */ Copyright Inter Press Service 1991, all rights reserved. Permission to re- print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'. Area: Caribbean Title: CARIBBEAN: REMEMBERING COLUMBUS CONJURES UP OTHER GHOSTS an inter press service feature by colin williams kingstown, sep 13 (ips) -- caribbean ngos and the people they intend to sensitize will not be among the revellers when multimillion dollar celebrations are held next year to mark the 500th anniversary of christopher columbus' ''discovery'' of the americas. instead, the ngos (non-governmental organisations) will be rallying around the banner of ''survival, resistance and challenge'' to commemorate -- and not celebrate -- columbus' arrival in 1492 and, more importantly, the course taken by history in the five centuries since then. with the caribbean people's development agency (caripeda) as standard-bearer, caribbean ngos intend to ''highlight the genocide against the indigenous people and their marginalisation''. caripeda is an umbrella organisation grouping developmental ngos in six caribbean countries, belize, dominica, grenada, jamaica, st. lucia and st. vincent and the grenadines. ''the occasion is also to be used to emphasize the struggle against those forces which the coming of columbus set in train and to break the psychological dependence that came in its wake'', caripeda coordinator adrian fraser told ips. ''central to this is the questioning of the concept of discovery, since the idea of discovery is part of the view of colonial peoples as objects rather than subjects of their history'', fraser, a historian, said. spain and other european countries are providing much of the financing for the quincentennial celebrations, which will be held in 1992 in europe and the americas. the ''discovery'' of the americas led almost immediately to the extermination or decimation of the indigenous arawaks, caribs, tainos and scores of other amerindian groups. it led soon after to the development of commercial slavery and plantation agriculture, in which millions of africans suffered and died, and to the blooming of colonialism. now, ''as columbus' ships sail a second time -- 500 years later -- we need to reflect on the words 'survival, resistance, and challenge' '', caribbean ngos meeting in dominica in july to discuss plans for 1992 and beyond said in a statement. (more/ips) caribbean: columbus (2) ''through resistance, we have survived 500 years of genocide, slavery, exploitation and colonialism'', stated the participants in the meeting, jointly sponsored by the eastern caribbean popular theatre association, the caribbean conference of churches and the cuso, a canadian-funded developmental organisation. the challenges represented by the nina, the pinta and the santa maria, columbus' three caravels, have now been replaced by ''star wars, satellites and fortress europe'', the ngos found. ''these represent the protective cover for a new phase of global consolidation of powerful minority economic interests, whose design and plans are putting the world's people at greater risk than ever before'', they said. one interest group which shares this view is the umbrella windward island farmers association (winfa), which groups farmers organisations in dominica, grenada, guadeloupe, martinique, st. lucia and st. vincent. winfa is afraid that european unification could threaten the banana industry in the six windward islands and intends to use the quincentenary to focus attention on its concerns. ''we find that 500 years after, we have europe closing in. the whole banana industry is threatened, the livelihood of the people is threatened, so it is in this context that we are planning'', said robert fitzpatrick of winfa. the aims of cultural and educational activities which the st. vincent and the grenadines-based caripeda plans to mark the quincentenary include putting ''the plight of the indigenous people on the regional agenda and make recommendations for their re-entry into the mainstream of caribbean life''. in the caribbean, amerindian minorities are now to be found in only a few countries -- belize, dominica, french guiana, guyana and suriname. ''black caribs'' (the descendants of africans and caribs who came together to resist slavery) form a small minority in st. vincent and a larger one in belize, to which they were deported from st. vincent by the british in 1795. caripeda's 500th anniversary activities, which include a lecture tour on the significance of the quincentenary, will also aim at helping to ''correct the european bias perpetuated in text books about the significance f the arrival of columbus''. they will also seek to ''highlight the 500 years of struggle against conquest, slavery, colonialism and imperialism, and identify the creative forces that have led to our people's survival''.(more/ips) caribbean: columbus (3) the fora for this will include a conference of central american and caribbean indigenous peoples on the quincentenary, planned by the society for the promotion of education and research (spear), a belize-based affiliate of caripeda. a theatrical production on the quincentennial is being planned by projects promotions, a member of the caripeda family based in st. vincent and the grenadines. under normal circumstances, the quincentennial may well have received little notice from caribbean ngos. however, their activities have been stimulated by the view that caribbean governments are embracing the ''eurocentric'' view of celebrating the quincentennial, fraser said. ''they are primarily interested in attracting funds from spain, portugal and italy'' and tourists, he claimed. (end/ips/ce/cw/kb)