Mexico City is set to swap-out a statue of Christopher Columbus in the City’s main boulevard with one of an Indigenous woman.
The Mayor of Mexico City Claudia Sheinbaum, said it will be replaced by a replica of a pre-Columbian statue known as the Young Woman of Amajac.
As the first woman elected to the position of mayor in Mexico City, Sheinbaum said the statue represents “the fight of women, particularly the Indigenous ones, in Mexican history”.
Sheinbaum previously worked as an energy engineer before politics, and is expected to run for President in 2024.
The statue of Columbus was removed last year after Indigenous rights activists threatened to tear it down.
Columbus, was an Italian-born explorer and seen by many as a symbol of oppression and colonialism.
He was financed by the Spanish crown to set sail on voyages of exploration in the late 15th Century, with his arrival in America opening the door to the Spanish conquest.
Columbus Day is celebrated in the United states on October 12, which in Mexico and other Latin American countries is known as Día de la Raza (Spanish: Day of the Race).
US President Joe Biden announced that Indigenous Peoples’ Day will now be observed on the same day.
The statue of Columbus although gone, it will still be resituated in another area of Mexico City.
By Teisha Cloos