QCOSTARICA — Take note that the United States Embassy and Consular Section in San José, Costa Rica, will be closed next Monday, October 14, commemorating Columbus Day.
The U.S. federal holiday commemorates explorer Christopher Columbus’ landing in the New World on October 12, 1492. Although his explorations were financed by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain, Columbus was a native of Genoa, Italy.
Columbus Day also celebrates the cultural heritage of Italian Americans, to collectively celebrate their coming to America. The day also stands as a reminder to all immigrants that their unique history and culture will be recognized and to affirm the United States as a nation of immigrants.
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In many of the Spanish-speaking countries of the Americas, the landing is observed as “Día de la Raza”. Rather than celebrating Columbus’s arrival in the New World, many observers of Día de la Raza celebrate the indigenous peoples of Latin America and the culture that developed over the centuries as their heritage melded with that of the Spanish explorers who followed Columbus.
In Costa Rica, every October 12, the Día de las Culturas is celebrated, after a change in national legislation from being called “Día de la Raza”.
The change was the result of a profound struggle by an important sector of the citizenry, aware of the vital importance of memory in the construction and preservation of national identity.
Thus, in Costa Rica, since the signing of Law No. 7426 on August 23, 1994, it decrees that:
“Every year, October 12 will be commemorated as the “Día de las Culturas” to exalt the pluricultural and multiethnic character of the Costa Rican people. The historical fact of the arrival of Christopher Columbus to the American continent will also be remembered. The indigenous, European, African and Asian values present in the composition of the Costa Rican idiosyncrasy will be exalted in the commemorative acts of the Day of Cultures. On that day, the historical and cultural ties that unite the nations of Hispanic America will be remembered. In addition, the recovery of the aforementioned values will be encouraged.”
The day is not a public holiday in Costa Rica.
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In the United States, the thirty-sixth president, Lyndon B. Johnson, declared this day as a public holiday to be observed every year, on the second Monday of October.
The United States Embassy and Consular Section in San José, Costa Rica, will reopen to the public again on Tuesday, October 15, during its normal hours of 7:30 am to 4:30 pm.
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