Her context for this is that many of her (Latino) friends blame Columbus himself for many things he didn't do, like torture of the natives in Mexico, despite the fact that Columbus himself was never himself in Mexico. What she wants to know is how much of the stuff commonly attributed to Columbus was actually Columbus as opposed to generic Spanish colonists. That's why she's asking if he was ever a colonizer or had a ruling position.

She didn't ask about this next bit, but good biographies about Columbus would be appreciated, in English or in Spanish (she's fluent in both).