On the occasion of the global call for #5 of Sursystem, where they are asking for URBAN IMAGINARIES OF THE GLOBALIZED CITY, and in view of all the massive propaganda that is being given to this year as the Bicentennial (of independence) I "dusted off" from the hard drive some notes that I had about something that always caught my attention, situations that are experienced in many Latin American cities, which by the way have a lot of globalization.
The first is the deeply rooted celebration that exists in our countries of the "founding" of our cities, and then a few months later, and in many cases, we celebrate the "independence" of those same cities or of the entire country.
It caught my attention mainly at a time in life when one begins to be more critical, that is, to not swallow the whole story that we are often fed since childhood.
It turns out that the celebrations are completely antagonistic, only a minimal analysis is necessary to realize it. In the "foundations" that in many cases are not foundations, since there were already entire towns living there, what we celebrate is the moment when the invader came, stole the land, the gold, the women, and a long etcetera.
And a few months later, in some cases a few weeks later, we celebrated with great "patriotic pride" the independence of everything that we had celebrated with such joy days before, that is, the moment when those "upstarts" stopped stealing our land, our gold, our women, and so on.
The problem, and I am guilty of being a sociologist, is what it means for our people to do it every year and again the next year.
The celebration of the foundations is definitely valid and understandable during the 300-odd years that the Spanish gentiles were in these parts; of course, if they had been in prison for robbery, rape, murder and so on, they were now rewarded for doing exactly the same thing. Of course, if they give me my share as Crown Prince.
So, yes, let's celebrate, and with good reason, but what history doesn't explain to us is why, after such a long and painful process of "independence" (also so full of half-truths, or half-lies as some would say), one of the first things that was not abolished was those celebrations. A HISTORICAL ERROR that continues to this day, and if we are not critical, it will simply continue, or can anyone imagine a December without "Quito festivities" right now?
The second situation, so deeply rooted in our cities and towns in many cases, is the name of the streets and busts, statues and other reminders that remain to this day of the two types of characters, both the "founders" and the "independentists."
Which our current "memorable" authorities also commemorate with floral offerings every time these holidays are celebrated.
There is no need to search too much, in Guayaquil for example, the main avenues are called 25 de Julio and Orellana (so that we remember forever that that was when history was broken) but so that we remember that we are “free” then there is the glorious 9 de Octubre……… (no comments).
A few years ago, on the ruined sculpture of Pizarro that crowns Ballenita, a group of street artists adorned it with the terms: murderer, genocidal, thief, terrorist, rapist. The Municipality of Santa Elena, of course, was quick to erase with dark paints all trace of that "aggression" against our "discoverer."
In the days after, you can come to leave your floral offering and take a photo.
The community itself certainly has many better things to celebrate, for example the mother, its grocers, its fishermen and many more who deserve it with their actions.
There are people, and more and more, who are realizing this, and we are no longer buying into that same story. And YOU?
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