Columbus Day under President Hugo Chávez, the holiday was changed to "Día de la Resistencia Indígena" (Day of Indigenous Resistance) to commemorate the Indigenous peoples' resistance to European settlement. On October 12, 2004, a crowd of pro-government activists toppled the statue of Christopher Columbus in Caracas and sprayed allusive graffiti over its pedestal. The pro-Chávez website Aporrea wrote: "Just like the statue of Saddam in Baghdad, that of Columbus the tyrant also fell this October 12, 2004 in Caracas". The famous toppling of Saddam Hussein's statue had occurred the previous year. On September 21, 1994, Costa Rica changed the official holiday from
Columbus Day American communities in the United States) is the "Día de la Raza" ("day of the race" or the "day of the [Hispanic] people"), commemorating the first encounters of Europeans and the Native Americans. The day was first celebrated in Argentina in 1917, in Venezuela and Colombia in 1921, in Chile in 1922 and in Mexico it was first celebrated in 1928. The day was also celebrated under this title in Spain until 1957, when it was changed to the "Día de la Hispanidad" ("Hispanicity Day"), and in Venezuela it was celebrated under this title until 2002, when it was changed