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LATIN AMERICA |
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Monument to
“Che” Guevara Damaged in his Hometown
BUENOS AIRES – Unknown persons damaged a
bronze statue in honor of Ernesto “Che”
Guevara in Rosario, the Argentine city where
the future icon of the Cuban Revolution was
born, a municipal official said Tuesday.
Horacio Ghirardi said that the act of
vandalism was committed last weekend by
“someone who does not like this figure or
had the intention of robbing or damaging it,
just because.”
“Unfortunately it has been targeted by
vandals and now we will have to restore it
and keep protecting it,” he said on Rosario
radio stations, adding that the sculpture
suffered cuts indicating the intention to
remove the legs.
The statue, which stands 4 meters (13 feet)
tall and weighs three tons, was unveiled on
June 14, 2008, on the occasion of the 80th
anniversary of Che’s birth.
Ghirardi said that as the years have gone
by, the figure of Che Guevara has become
part of Argentine culture, but “there are
sectors that remain opposed” to the
installation of the guerrilla’s sculpture in
Rosario.
In any case, he said that “it is a sculpture
that is treasured, it has so much symbolism”
and will be restored “like so many others.”
The work, created by sculptor Andres Zerneri
with the smelting of some 75,000 donated
keys and other bronze objects, is a
full-body statue of Che, walking and wearing
a beret, with long hair and his gaze fixed
on the horizon, an expression copied from a
famous photo by the Cuban photographer Korda
in Havana in the 1960s. EFE |
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