Rivers of Babylon / The Jamaicans
We live in unique times.
Our day trip to Santo Domingo included 3 stops that celebrate the celebrity of Christopher Columbus.
Columbus is BIG in the Caribbean, South America, and Central America – as the “Discoverer of the Americas” – and in establishing the Spanish Main and Spanish colonization.
And particularly in Santo Domingo – where the Spanish established their Seat of Power in the Spanish Main.
BUT …
For hundreds of years, in many cultures, Columbus has been celebrated as a Hero – Explorer extraordinaire. You know the story.
But … about 20 years ago, somebody started to look deeper – and discovered a different story. A very different story. And a very dark one.
Research into the true story of Christopher Columbus reveals a man who was one of the most hideous and debauched mass murderers in world history. A slaver who plundered and butchered his way throughout the Caribbean (particularly in Hispaniola = Haiti and Dominican Republic).and precipitated the mass genocide of native cultures Caribbean, South America, Central America and the Southern US – and spearheaded a tradition of conduct here that lives in infamy. All this is now well documented with first hand accounts from (himself!) and others who were there. I’m not going to get into all the details here, but it’s very shocking. A complete reversal of his image. We all knew of the sadistic and brutal behavior to Spanish conquistadors: Ponce de Leon, Hernando Cortez, Francisco Pizzaro, Hernando de Soto. But we never knew this behavior was initiated and eclipsed by Columbus.
Columbus came here for GOLD. And took it any cost.
YET this is the guy who still seems to be celebrated as a Hero in many of these countries.
The victors truly do write the History.
Stop One:
The Columbus Lighthouse
A real mind boggler.
Columbus Lighthouse is a massive Mausoleum complex that was built in 1992 for 70 million dollars (about $120 US million today) to celebrate the “500th anniversary of the Columbus Discovery of America” (which is a lie – Columbus never made it to North America and never knew of the North American continent.) It’s called Lighthouse because it features projecting beams of light, forming a cross shape, which are so powerful they can be seen from neighboring Puerto Rico.
We (sadly) never even got to go inside this place! Our stop was a mere 10 minutes – only enough time for some snapshots and jump back on the bus. ???
So I’ve included some shots from the Net so you’ll get some idea of this place:
It’s pretty hard to justify such a use of public money in a 3rd world country.
Not only that, but the remains in the Mausoleum/Tomb do not belong to Columbus at all!!
They grabbed the wrong box.
The real remains (proven my DNA tests) are in Seville, Spain.
If you see these guys coming … run like hell.
Next Stop: Downtown Santo Domingo: Day Trip to Santo Domingo 3
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And in the USA they actually have a holiday to celebrate this criminal. PS: Nice posts.
I believe this is how the information got around – a lot of people are upset. There are now some US States that have stopped recognizing Columbus Day. I’m guessing that everyone will follow suit in the future.