A day in history by Christopher Columbus

On July 31, 1498, Christopher Columbus and his expedition sailed west across the Atlantic for the third time, and disembarked to the south of the island of Trinidad, its first task being to explore the Gulf of Paria (which divides Venezuela from Trinidad) and part of the territory of the southern continent.

Other regions they explored were Margarita Island and the Chacachare archipelago. He visited Trinidad and the South American mainland before returning to the ill-fated Hispaniola settlement, where the colonists had staged a bloody revolt against the Columbus brothers’ mismanagement and brutality. Conditions were so bad that Spanish authorities had to send a new governor to take over. Christopher Columbus was arrested and returned to Spain in chains.

In 1502, cleared of the most serious charges but stripped of his noble titles, the aging Columbus persuaded the Spanish king to pay for one last trip across the Atlantic. This time, Columbus made it all the way to Panama, where he had to abandon two of his four ships in the face of an attack from hostile natives. Empty-handed, the elderly explorer returned to Spain, where he died in 1506.

However, his journey kicked off centuries of exploration and exploitation on the American continents. The consequences of his explorations were devastating for the native populations of the lands they conquered. Disease and environmental changes resulted in the destruction of the majority of the native population over time, while Europeans continued to extract natural resources from these territories.

Written by Radio Grito de Baire