Between Virginia and New Hampshire avenues, just nine blocks from the White House, the monument to former Mexican President Benito Juárez (1806 - 1872) rises in Washington, which he will visit during his first official trip abroad, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador after to visit the Abraham Lincoln memorial (1809 - 1865).
López Obrador has expressed his admiration for Juárez on many occasions, whom he considers one of his leaders in the government of the fourth transformation he says he is leading. “The best president that there has been in the history of our country. His example still governs ”, he has come to say of the hero.
The bronze sculpture of the former Mexican president was presented by the government of Gustavo Díaz Ordaz to the United States in 1968 in response to the delivery of another statue of Abraham Lincoln that the government of Lindon B. Johnson gave away in 1966. Both presidents, Juárez and Lincoln They were contemporaries although they never met. "All nations rightly praise their own famous men. But only a truly great people pause to pay tribute to the greats of other lands. That is what Mexico is doing today, ”says John Kelly, a journalist for The Washington Post , who President Johnson said on his visit to Mexico City.
The original design of the effigy of Juárez dates from 1891 and was made by the sculptor Enrique Alciati, one of the most recognized artists of the late 19th century in Mexico. The winged Victory of the Independence Column (1910), known as 'The Angel of Independence', and the rest of the statuary in marble and bronze also came out of Alciati's workshop. Alciati is also the author of many of the sculptures on the sides of the Paseo de la Reforma. "He is an Italian sculptor who comes to Mexico from Marseille on his own feet and his work makes him famous," says researcher Luis Ignacio Sainz. "He also made the bust of Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez who is in the Plaza de Santo Domingo and the sculptures on the front of the postal palace of the Historic Center," explains the specialist.
In Benito Juárez's sculpture, Alciati represents him hieratic and erect, with his left leg slightly forward, his right hand pointing to the horizon, dressed in a cape and supported on the Reform Laws by which the State Church was separated in Mexico. "Although Juárez is civil, the representation is quite martial. The arm is indicating the future of the nation and the successes to come, "adds Luis Ignacio Sainz. “It is the mix between the politician and the triumphant statesman after the restoration of the Republic. The cape comes to reiterate that he is a judge, not only that he is a statesman. He is a man subject to the law supported by the Reform ”, adds the expert.
The monument to Juárez, five meters high by two meters wide, is part of a group dedicated to the liberators of America, including Simón Bolívar, José de San Martín, José Gervasio Artigas and Bernardo de Gálvez. In the case of Benito Juárez, he is in front of the Watergate complex , known for being the place where the headquarters of the National Committee of the Democratic Party was located, where the theft of documents took place that ended up splashing the Richard Nixon administration and causing the resignation of the American president.
On behalf of Ambassador @Martha_Barcena, Consul @RafaelLaveagaR places a wreath at the statue of Benito Juárez located in Washington, DC, to commemorate the birth of # BeneméritodeLasAméricas.
"Respect for the rights of others is peace." # BenitoJuárez pic.twitter.com/atlhh5qrv1
When the statue was placed in 1968, land was also deposited from Guelatao, the place where Juárez was born in Oaxaca. At the stone base you can read in English and Spanish one of the most representative phrases of the hero, repeated many times by López Obrador: "Respect for the rights of others is peace / Respect for the rights of others is peace."
Follow Verne México on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and don't miss your daily ration of Internet wonders.