San Diego, CA
Opinion: The jury is in — Cabrillo was a Spaniard
Sept. 28 was the 483rd anniversary of the arrival of the Spanish explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo aboard the San Salvador at what we now call San Diego Bay. The San Salvador was the first European sailing vessel to reach the California coast.
Cabrillo National Monument was established in 1913 by President Woodrow Wilson. The Cabrillo/Spanish connection was prevalent in the original plans for Cabrillo National Monument, which were formulated in 1913.
Twenty years later, a fabricated shift began that asserted Cabrillo was Portuguese. The first reference to Cabrillo being Portuguese, as it relates to the Cabrillo National Monument, occurred in 1934. The first mention of the name João Rodrigues Cabrilho — note the different spelling of the final name — did not appear until 1935 and has never been verified as authentic.
The iconic statue at Cabrillo National Monument was commissioned by the Portuguese Secretariat of National Propaganda in 1939. Two bronze plaques displayed at the monument referring to Cabrillo as a Portuguese navigator were gifted by the Portuguese Navy in 1957 and 1988. The addition of the statue and plaques was not approved by Congress nor the director of the National Park Service, as required by federal statute.
In 2015, renowned Canadian historian and expert on 16th century Central America, Wendy Kramer, Ph.D., while conducting archival research, discovered several thousand pages of manuscripts with legal documents written by official scribes. Numerous documents were signed by Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo stating that he was a native of the Spanish village of Palma de Micer Gilio, now known as Palma del Río, Córdoba, Spain. Kramer was researching information about Guatemala in the 1520s and 1530s. Her findings were published in 2016 in The Journal of San Diego History.
Kramer’s paper — “Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, Citizen of Guatemala and Native of Palma del Rio: New Sources from the Sixteenth Century” — was peer reviewed by several historians including Carla Rahn Phillips, professor emeritus at the University of Minnesota, and Harry Kelsey, the former chief curator of history at the National History Museum of Los Angeles County and research scholar at the Huntington Library.
Robert Munson, former Cabrillo National Monument historian, verified and agreed with the historians’ peer review. Local historians Iris Engstrand and Molly McLain, then co-editors of “The Journal of San Diego History,” agreed with Kramer’s conclusion.
An April 25, 2018, letter from Cabrillo National Monument Superintendent Andrea Compton to the House of Spain acknowledged and accepted Kramer’s finding that Cabrillo was born in current-day Palma del Río, Córdoba, Spain.
Despite overwhelming evidence and scholarly acceptance, the Cabrillo National Monument refuses to affirm that Cabrillo was of Spanish birth. In fact, after Kramer’s findings, the Cabrillo National Monument inexplicably changed the birthplace of Cabrillo on its website from Spain to “the Iberian Peninsula.”
Why does the National Park Service promote the inaccurate history that Cabrillo may have been born in Portugal? Even Portugal did not recognize Cabrillo as a native on the famous Monument of the Discoveries (Padrão dos Descobrimentos) in Lisbon.
Why does the National Park Service refuse to update the information it disseminates to the public on its website, wayside exhibit and brochures? Why does it reference the name João Rodrigues Cabrilho when that person does not exist in the history of California? This name is a fake created by the government of Portugal and the Portuguese in California. Read the history of California.
The House of Spain in San Diego’s YouTube channel shows a short video about the Cabrillo National Monument history.
Where is any similar historical research and peer review acceptance of the Portuguese claims? Answer: There is none.
Latin American history experts with whom I have consulted unanimously agree Cabrillo was Spanish. They unanimously agree there is no reliable evidence supporting the position that Cabrillo was Portuguese.
The National Park Service needs to be honest in telling the story of Cabrillo. Give all visitors the objective truth.
Benayas is president of House of Spain in San Diego and lives in San Diego.
San Diego, CA
San Diego health officials monitor hantavirus situation as cruise ship passengers return to U.S.
SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — American passengers from a cruise ship hit with a hantavirus outbreak are back in the United States.
San Diego County health officials say they are monitoring the situation and there is no need for panic.
“The risk to Californians is really low and especially here in San Diego. Since the year 2000, we’ve only had 4 cases of hantavirus and the majority of those were in travel related cases so not even acquired here locally,” Ankita Kadakia, deputy public health officer for the County of San Diego, said.
According to the CDC, hantavirus is spread through contact with infected rodents.
“The virus can be in their saliva, feces or droppings,” Kadakia said.
San Diego County does see cases of rodents infected with hantavirus, but the strain seen locally is not the same strain connected to the cruise ship outbreak.
“The vast majority of strains of hantavirus are mouse or animal to human transmission. Not human to human transmission. So the Andes strain, which is found in Argentina, there is evidence that there is human to human transmission,” Dr. Ahmed Salem, a pulmonologist at Sharp Memorial Hospital, said.
Salem treated hantavirus during the 2012 Yosemite National Park outbreak.
“One of the ways you die from hantavirus is you get a collapse of your cardiac system and your pulmonary system and you have to go on something called ECMO. It’s one of the most aggressive forms of life support that you can do. So I do remember that case, and unfortunately, that person passed away,” Salem said.
There is currently no cure or vaccine for hantavirus. Health officials stress that for those who were not on the cruise ship, the risk of contracting the virus remains low.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
Here’s some instant reaction from the Padres’ wild 3-2 victory
It seemed like the same tired story.
Instead, it was the same thriller.
The Padres pushed their offensive lethargy as long as possible without paying for it Sunday, tying the game with two outs in the ninth inning on Nick Castellanos’ two-run homer and then celebrating after Manny Machado’s sacrifice fly in the 10th inning gave them a 3-2 victory over the Cardinals.
“Getting it done,” Machado said.
That’s it. That is all they are doing.
And at what is essentially the quarter mark of the season, the Padres are 24-16 and tied with the Dodgers atop the National League West.
The shocking component of their having the major leagues’ fifth-best record is that the Padres rank in the bottom three among MLB’s 30 teams in batting average and OPS.
They split with the Cardinals despite having 14 hits, their fewest in a four-game series in franchise history. Their 61 hits over their past 10 games are the fewest in a stretch that long since 2019, and they are 5-5 in those games.
“It sucks; we need to hit; Machado said. “I mean, you know, look, it’s obvious. We’re not hitting. It’s obvious, but we’re getting things done, man.”
Sunday was the Padres’ 12th victory this season in which the decisive run was scored in the seventh inning or later. That is exactly half their victories.
It was their fourth walk-off victory, their second in extra innings. It was the seventh time that a run scored in their final offensive half-inning decided a victory.
So it is no small thing to proffer that Sunday was possibly their most dramatic triumph. Because it was possibly their most unlikely one.
Not only were they a strike away from defeat, but they began the ninth inning having gotten two hits all day.
The Cardinals took a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning on their first two hits off Walker Buehler — a single by Alec Burleson and a home run by Jordan Walker with two outs. Buehler pitched six innings, allowing just one more hit before Ron Marinaccio worked two scoreless innings.
But the Padres were unable to make anything of their seven at-bats with runners in scoring position over the first eight innings. They had walked five times but had just Jackson Merrill’s third-inning single and Xander Bogaerts’ fourth-inning double to that point.
“Really good teams find ways to win games when they’re not doing their best,” Gavin Sheets said. “… We’re not clicking on all cylinders by any means. And I don’t think any of us would say that he’s on a roll right now, but we’re getting hits in a timely fashion and it’s someone different every night.”
Almost.
The Padres have game-winning RBIs from 10 different players. They have go-ahead RBIs from 13 of the 14 position players who have been on their roster this season. Sunday was Castellanos’s third game-tying RBI.
His home run, on the ninth pitch of his at-bat against Cardinals closer Riley O’Brien, was something of a clinic by a veteran hitter who is in his first season as a role player.
Castellenos, who entered the game as a pinch-hitter in the seventh inning and remained in right field, came to the plate with Bogaerts at first base with two outs.
Bogaerts’ single leading off the inning had been followed by two strikeouts, and Castellanos fell behind 0-2 before working the count full and then sending a 99 mph sinker on the inner edge of the plate almost to the ribbon scoreboard fronting the second level of seats beyond left field.
“The first pitch started, and I was probably looking to do what I did,” he said. “And then I ended up getting 0-2 and chasing. After that, just took a deep breath and tried to shorten up as much as possible and just compete. Just find a way on base. And then found myself in a full account and was able to get the job done.”
It was the first home run allowed by O’Brien this season.
With closer Mason Miller not available after throwing 29 pitches over 1⅓ innings on Saturday, Jeremiah Estrada got the first two outs of the 10th. With runners on first and second, Adrian Morejón entered the game and got an inning-ending pop out on his first pitch.
Gordon Graceffo was on the mound for the Cardinals, and Ramón Laureano was the Padres’ automatic runner in the 10th. The Cardinals intentionally walked Merrill at the start before Fernando Tatis Jr. whittled a 1-2 count into a walk to load the bases.
The game was over one pitch later, when Machado sent a fastball to right-center field and Laureano slid across the plate well in front of right fielder Jordan Walker’s throw.
It was a somewhat subdued but still enthusiastic celebration along the first-base line, as teammates bounced around Machado.
“It’s hard to win a game like that,” Padres manager Craig Stammen said. “Their pitchers pitched great, and they’re bringing in one of the best closers in the game. And we just stuck with it. It just speaks to how those guys believe in themselves and how they believe in what we’ve got going on as a team.”
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