Mexico is the latest country to become wrapped up in the controversial issue of removing monuments of now discredited historical figures of the past.
The recent announcement that the statue of Christopher Columbus on Mexico City’s landmark Paseo de la Reforma —taken down in October last year following threats of vandalism—would be replaced with a huge bust representing an indigenous Olmec woman, unleashed a backlash that seemed to take the capital’s mayor Claudia Sheinbaum by surprise, especially since some of the criticism came from within the cultural community.
While one petition on change.org drew thousands of signatures by Mexicans who felt “outraged and affected by the withdrawal of our historical heritage” and demanded the return of the Columbus statue to its original site, others offered more reflective and nuanced observations.
Please login or subscribe to view the complete article.