Residents in the Colombian city of Cartagena are calling for a plaque that Britain’s Prince Charles unveiled last week to be taken down.
The commemoration was intended to mark the suffering of both sides during Britain’s ill-fated attack on the city in 1741, but angry citizens have now called for it to be removed, the Independent newspaper reports.
Some residents of the coastal resort claim the marble monument – which commemorates "the courage and suffering of all those who died in battle trying to take the city and Fort San Felipe under the command of Admiral Edward Vernon at Cartagena de Indias in 1741" – glorifies 18th century "English pirates".
Britain sent a naval fleet of nearly 200 vessels and approximately 30,000 military personnel in an attempt to claim Cartagena and seize control of key Spanish ports dominating access to the Caribbean and Latin America.
The siege was a disaster and resulted in the loss of 18,000 men to death or disease, including militia recruited from the then American colonies, and the end of ambitions to extend the Crown’s imperial possessions to South America,
The city’s mayor, Dionisio Velez, attempted to leave the history of the two countries – which also caused nearly 2,000 Spanish casualties – in the past in an attempt to attract British tourists from cruise ships calling at the port, but his plan now appears to have backfired.
Colombians call for Prince Charles’ plaque to be removed
