Words that don’t get through. The president of the Executive Council of Martinique, Serge Letchimy, sharply reframed on Thursday the host and real estate agent Stéphane Plaza, who had compared himself on social networks to “a Christopher Columbus” while he was visiting the West Indies.
“I strongly condemn the statements of Stéphane Plaza, who expressed his desire to land in Martinique and Guadeloupe Like a Christopher Columbus to set up his real estate agencies there,” Serge Letchimy wrote on X (ex-Twitter), inviting the host to “change course.”
In a publication on Sunday on his Instagram account, the real estate agent appeared all smiles at the helm of a sailboat. “Like Christopher Columbus, I am sailing the waves for a new stratospheric adventure: setting up Stéphane Plazza Immobilier in the marvelous overseas islands,” wrote in this post – since modified – the star of M6, explaining that he wanted to “start with the Guadeloupe”, before going to Martinique “mid-September”.
“The evocation of this name constitutes an unforgivable insult to our people, Martinique and Guadeloupe,” responded Serge Letchimy in a series of messages on X. “By comparing yourself to Christopher Columbus, you identify yourself with a murderer and torturer, responsible for massacres who actively participated in the European genocide of indigenous peoples and who instituted slavery as well as the sex trafficking of women and children,” he added.
Long celebrated as the “discoverer of America”, Christopher Columbus is increasingly seen as one of the instigators of the crimes committed against indigenous populations during the conquest of this territory. Several American cities and states have thus replaced “Columbus Day”, a public holiday in the United States, in recent years with a day of tribute to indigenous peoples. Statues of the Genoese explorer have also been torn down, notably in Mexico City, Mexico, where it was replaced in 2021 with that of an indigenous woman.
This controversy comes as Stéphane Plaza is accused of violence by several ex-partners. Placed in police custody in March, he will be tried in this case at the end of the summer.
