Colonial Domination in America: A Brief History of Human Beings Without Rights

Santa Marta commemorates 500 years of its Spanish foundation in the midst of a profound debate: celebration or critical reflection? While the authorities exalt the Hispanic legacy, citizen voices demand an inclusive narrative that recognizes the Afro and indigenous root. The official brand “City of Origin” ignores centuries of diversity and resistance. The dispute over memory reveals how much the colonial heritage still weighs.

Colonial control on our continent, which has excluded human beings from their rights for over 500 years, leaves us with this question: can human rights be considered universal? Colonial mercantilism and humans without rights In an article entitled “History as a weapon,” the renowned Cuban researcher Manuel Moreno Fraginals claims that historians work with documents that come almost entirely from the ruling classes. From this point of view, anoth…