Friday's Holiday Moved
to Monday
Firday's "Dia de las
Culturas" holiday will
be the last of the
in-week holidays for the
year that will be moved
to the following Monday.
October 12 is Dia de las
Culturas in Costa Rica,
though it is known in
other countries as Dia
de la Raza,
traditionally celebrated
throughout the Americas
as the day Christopher
Columbus arrived in
1492.
In English speaking
countries, the day is
celebrated as Columbus
Day or Native American
Day. In Spanish speaking
countries and
communities, is is known
as Día de la Raza, the
Day of the Race.
Día de la Raza is the
celebration of the
Hispanic heritage of
Latin America and brings
into it all the ethnic
and cultural influences
making it distinctive.
The Código de Trabajo
(labour code) sets
out that workers in
hotels, restaurants,
reatil stores and
gasoline stations, for
example, who are
required to work on
Monday must be paid
double their normal
salary or their regular
salary if they have the
day off.
However, employees
working in other
sectors, only get paid
their normal salary is
required to work and no
pay if they have the day
off.
A few historical
facts behind the
holiday:
- Cristóbal Colón, born
Cristoforo Colombo (an
Italian), following the
newly accepted theory
that the world was round
and not flat, sailed
west from Spain to find
a new route to China or
the East Indies. He
wanted also to prove his
calculations of the
earth's circumference.
- He was off on his
calculations and he
didn't find a new spice
route. Instead, on
October 12, 1492, he and
his small fleet of three
ships, the Niña, the
Pinta and the Santa
Maria, landed on one of
the islands now known as
the Bahamas. The exact
island is a matter of
debate and conjecture,
but from there, he went
on to Cuba and
Hispaniola, now the
Dominican Republic and
Haiti, and went back to
Spain to recount his
adventures.
- With royal approval
and funding, he set
forth in 1493 with a
fleet of 17 ships and
retraced his earlier
voyage. This time he
explored Puerto Rico and
the Leeward Islands,
founded a colony on
Hispaniola. He did not
find any spices, nor
gold in great
quantities, but returned
again to Spain. He made
his third journey to the
New World in 1498, where
he explored the coast of
Venezuela and was awed
by the sweet water of
the Orinoco where it
flowed into the
Atlantic.
- For his efforts,
Columbus was made
admiral and Governor
General of the new
colonies until he was
sent back to Spain in
disgrace in 1500. He
overcame that
humiliation sufficiently
to make a fourth and
final voyage in 1502,
landing in Costa Rica.
When he died in 1506,
Columbus was dishonored
and all but forgotten.
Whether he should be
celebrated as the man
who opened Central and
South America to
exploration and
colonization, or
excoriated for the same
thing is a continuing
debate.
- Christopher Columbus
and Columbus Day are
reviled in places
because he is blamed for
bringing the evils of
slavery, the encomienda
system and the diseases
of Europe to Latin
America. He was
avaricious, cruel and
paved the way for the
conquista.
Now, 500 plus years
later, we recall his
deeds and celebrate not
Columbus the man, but
the actions and
influences of all the
people who came after
him, who melded their
European culture with
the indigenous cultures
and, with difficulty,
blood and years of
battle,
misunderstandings and
treachery, have created
the multi-cultural,
multi-ethnic society we
now celebrate with the
Día de la Raza.
Note: It was up to
others to name the
places where he had
landed or to discover
the route to China.
Amerigo Vespucci named
Venezuela afer his
native Venice, and Vasco
da Gama sailed round the
Cape of Good Hope and
the Indian Ocean to the
Far East, opening the
Spice Route for
Portugal.
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