Faced with CDMX Inaction, Committee Seeks to Recover Fidel & Che Statues

ByAngel Bolaños Sanchez

This article by Angel Bolaños Sanchez originally appeared in the December 5, 2025 edition of La Jornada, Mexico’s premier left wing daily newspaper.

The Mexican Movement of Solidarity with Cuba is considering initiating legal action to recover and reinstall the sculptures of Ernesto Che Guevara and Fidel Castro in the Tabacalera garden, which were removed on July 16 by the mayor of Cuauhtémoc, Alessandra Rojo de la Vega, due to the lack of response from the city government to the demand for the Encuentro sculptural ensemble to be returned to the plaza.

Cuauhtémoc’s Alessandra Rojo de la Vega, known for her presence around press events of dubious origin, such as a 2024 “assassination attempt” and joining 8 incompetent Whitexicans in attempting to fill a pothole, illegally removed the sculptures of Fidel Castro & Che Guevara earlier this year.

Meanwhile, on Thursday they delivered a letter addressed to the head of government, Clara Brugada Molina, to reiterate their request and express their concern about the demolition of the pieces of the sculptor Óscar Ponzanelli in a warehouse of the mayor’s office, as Rojo de la Vega herself showed in recent days in a video and photographs that she disseminated through her social networks.

Members of the movement, including Morena federal deputy María Magdalena Rosales Cruz, presented the document, signed by committees from 25 states across the country and the Morena party, highlighting the importance of “maintaining the historical memory not only of the Cuban revolutionary process, but also of the history of Mexico and the Tabacalera colony itself,” as well as of both figures who fought for just causes in Latin America and the world.

Carolina Verduzco dismissed the possibility that the mayor would melt down the sculptures, as she suggested in the video she would do if the community asked her to. However, she considered the official’s “cynical” attitude a result of the city authorities’ laziness in recovering and reinstalling the sculptures, after the Committee on Monuments and Artistic Works in Public Spaces determined that the mayor’s office acted illegally in removing them. Verduzco reiterated that this delay is perceived as a “defeat for the 4T (Fourth Transformation) in the ideological dispute with the right.”

Tamara Barra Monzón said they are considering seeking legal protection through injunctions to have the sculptures reinstalled. She commented that this hadn’t been attempted before because the city government had promised to recover them, but “many months have passed and it doesn’t seem to be an issue they’re interested in,” as well as due to the legal and procedural costs. However, several colleagues are already offering their services.