“It is the day the genocide began”

The Venezuelan president recalls that the “superb” King Felipe VI “has not wanted to ask for forgiveness” from Mexico

Oct. 10 () –

The president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, criticized this Wednesday that Spain celebrates October 12 as a national holiday for Hispanic Heritage Day, whose origin is found in the conquest of America in 1492, considering that “it is the day that began genocide”.

“They go out on October 12 to celebrate Columbus Day, Spain Day. They couldn’t get another day, because October 12 for all of America, especially for our America, is the day that the genocide began, the extermination, slavery, colonialism. It is not a day to celebrate, nor the day of Spain, nor the day of anything. It is the day of blood, of death, of slavery, he declared.

Maduro, during an event at the Venezuelan Institute of Scientific Research (IVIC) located in the state of Miranda, stressed that, on the contrary, for Latin Americans it is the “day of resistance, of life over death, of freedom about slavery, about the republican idea about monarchy”.

“The Spanish Empire brought the very modern respected institution of Human Rights. The Spanish Empire that always respected Human Rights brought slaves from Africa. Applause for the Spanish Empire for creating slavery,” he ironized. Likewise, he recalled that the “superb” King Felipe VI “has not wanted to ask for forgiveness” from Mexico, after the former president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, requested it.

Spain’s refusal to apologize for the conquest of America has recently caused a controversy with Mexico, because the monarch was not invited to the inauguration of the new Mexican president, Claudia Sheinbaum. For this reason, the Government refused to send a delegation to the event. However, Mexico’s new Foreign Minister, Juan Ramón de la Fuente, has stated that bilateral relations “continue.”