October 12 – Columbus Day
On October 12 of each year, the Day of the Race is celebrated in Honduras , whose name was called in most Latin American countries in commemoration of the sighting of land by the sailor Rodrigo de Triana in 1492, after having sailed for more than two months. led by Christopher Columbus to what would later be called America.
In Honduras , this festivity was established by decree in March 1914 (see decree below) by President Francisco Bertrand and Secretary of State Froylán Turcios. But its ideologue was the Spaniard Faustino Rodríguez-San Pedro, who served as president of the Ibero-American Union. In 1913 he thought of a celebration that would unite Spain and Latin America and he chose October 12.
This commemorative festival is generally held in Latin America and was created to commemorate the birth of a new identity resulting from the meeting and fusion of the original peoples of the American continent and the Spanish colonizers, in addition to the valorization of the Latin American cultural heritage.
However, over the years, various critical voices have been raised regarding the holiday, considering that the «discovery» of America and the subsequent conquest and colonization of the continent by European powers was a genocide that subdued and destroyed the pre-Columbian cultures.
This debate has caused various changes in the current commemoration of October 12 in several Latin American countries, where attempts have been made to claim original cultures or tolerance between cultures on that date.
Discovery of Honduras by Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus discovered Honduras on his fourth and last voyage, reaching the Island of Guanaja, and then Trujillo on the mainland.
Decree creating the Day of the Race as a national holiday
Agreement No. 86
SOVEREIGN NATIONAL CONGRESS
WHEREAS: It is a duty of high public culture to commemorate and perpetuate the glorious fact of the Discovery of America, declaring a National Holiday on October 12, the anniversary of that transcendental event in order to pay a tribute of just admiration to the discoverer of the New World.
THEREFORE DECREES:
Sole Article: Declare a National Holiday on October 12, ANNIVERSARY OF THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA in homage to the memory of the immortal sailor Christopher Columbus.
Pedro A. Medal
Vice-president
To the Executive Power:
So RUN:
Tegucigalpa, March 27, 1914.
Francisco Bertrand
President
Froylán Turcios
Secretary of State in the Office of Government by Law.
