Dia de la Raza (Columbus Day)

This is a kinda conflicted holiday in Guatemala as in much of Latin America. Some celebrate Columbus's discovery of the Americas. Others celebrate the survival of indigenous cultures in spite of that discovery and the European conquest that followed it. The designation Dia de la Raza or "Day of the Race," namely a race mixed of colonial and indigenous elements, represents this duality. Celebrations in Guatemala City, centering around the Plaza Mayor, may meet protests. Such meetings, while most often peaceable, do warrant caution.