SPANISH Foreign Minister Josep Borrell should apologise and be educated for claiming that only “four Indians” were killed in the fight for US independence.
The criticism came after he remarked during an event at Madrid University: “Why has the US a higher level of political integration? Firstly, they all speak the same language. And secondly, they have practically no previous history. They got independence with practically no history. All they did was kill four Indians.”
Borrell later tried to backtrack on social media, after he faced fierce criticism.
READ MORE: Thousands of strikers paralyse Catalan public services
Ciudadanos (Citizens) Party cited a March report which showed there had been 1500 wars or attacks on native Americans. By the end of the 19th century, it said only 238,000 of the native population remained from an estimate of 15 million in 1492.
Executive director of the Association of American Indians, Shannon Keller O’Loughlin, told the Catalan News Agency (CAN) that Borrell was “misinformed” about US history, and said he should look at Spanish museums, where he would find “stolen cultural heritage, sacred objects and ancestral remains”, stolen and looted from the American Indians.
She added: “To apologise, he would have to repatriate our cultural and ancestral heritage.
“Perhaps he needs a full education about the millions of American Indians that were slaughtered, ravaged by disease, dispossessed of their lands, graves robbed and children kidnapped.”
The blunder capped a bad week for Borrell, who was fined €30,000 (£26,700) by the National Securities Market Commission for using insider information – which he denied – to sell shares in tech multinational Abengoa.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here