Columbus Day century found definitive evidence proving April 22 to be the actual date of the arrival of Cabral's fleet on South American shores. In 2000, the government of Brazil used the date to celebrate 500 years of the existence of the country. The festivities, however, were met with protests by indigenous peoples who claimed it marked 500 years of genocide of indigenous Brazilians. Only a handful of Caribbean countries still observe holidays related to Columbus Day. In Belize, October 12 is celebrated as Day of the Americas or Pan American Day. In the Bahamas, it was formerly known as Discovery Day,
Columbus Day other events, but shops and businesses are closed as with other bank holidays. The observation is generally overshadowed by the feast dayof Our Lady of the Pillar(Fiestas del Pilar). This holiday was been declared a religious feast day throughout the Spanish Empire in 1730. In recent years, celebration of the holiday has faced some opposition from various organizations. Opposition to Columbus Day dates back to at least the 19th century, when anti-immigrant nativists (see Know Nothings) sought to eliminate its celebration because of its association with immigrants from the Catholic countries of Ireland and Italy, and the American Catholic fraternal