00:00144 years after it was erected, the statue of Christopher Columbus has been removed from Columbus Square in Port of Spain.
00:09The statue was removed last night and has been relocated to the National Museum.
00:14Deliberations are still underway as to what the new name of the site will be.
00:19However, there are considerations to making the location an indigenous site.
00:23A move supported by Freedom Project Caribbean.
00:28My view is the view of our indigenous brothers and sisters.
00:33That this space should celebrate their struggle and their resistance to colonial violence.
00:44And so we identified a Chief Baukanaar as an ideal person to occupy this space.
00:55But that's something that the mayor's office could discuss with the Warao and discuss with us further.
01:00And we look forward to being part of that conversation to decide what will actually replace Christopher Columbus.
01:08The removal of the statue comes after years of lobbying by various interest groups.
01:13However, Kambon believes one key institution should share their views on the matter.
01:18And so you see the battles within the institutions themselves.
01:23And so it's interesting to see what will happen now.
01:26Because, you know, the Catholic Church has been silent in Trinidad.
01:30At some point they have to speak out about this.
01:33This is their history, intimately entangled in their history in the region.
01:38And I think once they do their research, they're going to see, you know, they can speak to this issue in a way that would be quite important for our people.
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