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Maduro: Spain Celebrates the Holocaust of Our Ancestors For those unaware, October 12 is a national holiday in Spain. Once called “Día de la Hispanidad,” it’s that country’s national day and also its Day of the Armed Forces. They now call it “Fiesta Nacional,” or “National Festival.” For us and many others, the fact that Spain has chosen this day to celebrate its nationhood is extremely offensive and illustrates how the racism of colonialism is still deeply a part of this country’s identity. Venezuela President Nicolás Maduró agrees. On Saturday, Maduro told an assembly of military personnel how he felt about Spain’s Fiesta. “In Spain, [they celebrate October 12] as their national day…I felt outraged and offended that elsewhere they celebrate the day that began the American Indian Holocaust,” Maduro said. “Spain should reconsider this, as should the rest of Europe, because they cannot be celebrating the day that began the massacre, or the holocaust, of 100 million men and women who were our grandfathers and our grandmothers,” he said. “That’s why today is neither Día de la Hispanidad, nor is it Día de la Raza, it is a day of resistance for our Aboriginal Peoples. Resistance to conquest, resistance to colonialism, resistance to the Holocaust,” Maduro added. Although many of his statements have at times provided easy fodder for critics, Maduro’s words are poignant and exactly what needed to be said to Spain that day. A salute to Nicolás Maduro, and to his predecessor, Hugo Chávez, for officially making October 12 Day of Indigenous Resistance in Venezuela!

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A little while back I went to New Orleans to see the great man Mannie Fresh rock alongside the great go-go band Trouble Funk. There are words and there is audio over at my other site.