Reporting by James Bartolo, Pueblo Chieftain
It has been more than six years since Columbus Day was recognized as a state holiday, but more than 100 celebrants gathered in Pueblo around Colorado’s only remaining monument to Christopher Columbus on Oct. 12.
The Christopher Columbus monument has stood in Mesa Junction for 121 years. For those who observe the holiday, it is a symbol of Italian American pride. To protesters who have demonstrated against the monument since 1992, the bust of Columbus represents genocide and acts of violence against Indigenous people.
Gino Carleo, president of Sons of Italy Lodge #2738, told attendees of Pueblo’s 2026 Columbus Day celebration that the Pueblo monument is a symbol of something “bigger than one man.”
“It represents heritage,” Carleo said. “It represents sacrifice. It represents courage and it represents the dreams of generations who came before us. Our responsibility is not simply to remember our history. Our responsibility is to preserve it.”
On the other side of a steel barricade, protesters displayed signs with messages like “KKKolumbus Was A GENOCIDAL PEDOPHILE” and “TAKE IT DOWN.” Six years after successful efforts to abolish Columbus Day in Colorado, anti-Columbus activists continue their fight to have the Pueblo Columbus monument removed from where it has stood since 1905.
What Columbus Day protesters had to say
Community activist Breeanna Guerra Rodriguez told the Chieftain that activists have been left with “a lot of work to pick up” following the death of Rita J. Martinez in 2020.
Martinez, who played a pivotal role in the abolition of Columbus Day as a state holiday, was actively working with Chicano and Indigenous activists to have the city of Pueblo remove the monument shortly before her death.
“That decision ultimately lies with our elected city officials in doing the right thing… We’re not asking them to pull down the statue and break it,” Guerra Rodriguez said. “We’re asking it to be placed in a proper setting where people can be educated about who Columbus was.”
Chela Lujan, another activist participating in the demonstration against the Columbus monument, told fellow protesters that one day, they will not have to be in front of their own “pain,” “grief” and “heartbreak.”
“One day, we will understand our relationship to each other, our relationship to this mother earth, our relationship to creator, God, source, whatever you want to call it,” Lujan said. “We’ll understand our relationship to one another.”
Guest speakers at the 2026 Columbus Day celebration included former 10th Judicial District Attorney Jeff Chostner, Pueblo County Commissioner Paula McPheeters, and Pueblo County Commissioner Zach Swearingen. During his address to celebrants, Swearingen said that historical figures should be looked at “in context” without the application of “modern social norms.”
“We all know controversy still surrounds this holiday, and while history is not always pretty, it is not our job to erase or change it, or to tell people in this country what they can or cannot celebrate,” Swearingen said.
“Whether you choose to celebrate Columbus Day or Indigenous Peoples’ Day, let us do so peacefully and respectfully. Because through all of this history, we are all here now, living in the greatest country on Earth as Americans.”
Pueblo Chieftain reporter James Bartolo can be reached at JBartolo@gannett.com. Support local news; subscribe to the Pueblo Chieftain at subscribe.chieftain.com.
This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain.
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