Columbus the father of TT

THE EDITOR: Trinidad was first inhabited by about five different tribes including the Arawaks. The Caribs invaded Trinidad and annihilated these tribes. Columbus invaded Trinidad in 1495 and claimed Trinidad for King Ferdinand and Spain. The Spanish decimated the Caribs. The Caribs who survived were subsequently mixed with Spanish, Chinese, Indians etc. Presently, I do not know of any pure Carib who is a Trinidadian.

Columbus died very early in the 16th century. He was an explorer and cartographer. Columbus was not responsible for enslaving the African slaves who spoke Spanish in Trinidad. African chiefs like Daaga who sold slaves to the Spanish captains were responsible.

Slavery still exists in Africa today. The Nigerians are enslaving the Biafrans. The Hutus are enslaving the Tutsis.

Sir Ralph Abercromby conquered Trinidad for the English in 1797. He met slaves who spoke Spanish. The English abolished the slave ships in 1804. The Irish came as slaves in 1805. The Chinese came to work on plantations of Trinidad on October 12, 1806.

Most of the African slaves who spoke Spanish left Trinidad in 1838 to go and construct the Panama Canal. Some went to the banana plantations in Costa Rica and some went to the sugar cane plantations in Cuba after the Panama Canal was constructed.

Columbus is the most important historical being in the New World’s history. He is more important than John Kennedy or Martin Luther King. Europeans, Africans, Asians and Australians are in the New World at this present moment because of Columbus’ persistence that the world is round and not flat. He was a genius like Noah who disregarded the thousands that told him he was mad because he was building an ark on a high mountain.

Columbus is the father of this country because everyone will not have been in TT now if it was not for his genius. He was the first person to put TT on the world map. Our heavenly father will be very angry with us if we treat Columbus badly. I have no time for rebuttals. Let non-Trinidadians/Tobagonians be the judge.

Neither Cipriani, Butler nor Williams is the father of this country.

DEV SUPERSAD, Fyzabad