Sculptures of Fidel Castro and Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara Will Be Built Again and Placed in Mexico City

ByElba Mónica Bravo

This article by Elba Mónica Bravo originally appeared in the July 27, 2026 edition of La Jornada, Mexico’s premier left wing daily newspaper.

Mexico City. The Mexico City Government will “build again” the sculptures of Fidel Castro and Ernesto Che Guevara, and they will be installed at a different point in the capital, after on July 16 of last year, the mayor of Cuauhtémoc, Alessandra Rojo de la Vega, ordered the removal of the life-size figures that were sitting on a bench, located in the garden of the Plaza de San Carlos, in the Tabacalera neighborhood.

At a press conference, the head of the local Executive, Clara Brugada Molina, anticipated that the sculptures will be placed in another site “so that we no longer have problems of this kind,” but preferred to reserve details related to the date on which they will be presented, the size of the figures, whether they will be a replica of those that were removed, the material they will be made of, and whether they will appear together again, sitting on the bench.

The Secretary of Government, César Cravioto Romero, indicated that the Secretariat of Culture is in charge of creating the sculptural ensemble, known as Encuentro.

The local leader was asked about the arrest and release of people who were apparently leading the march called by various organizations on the anniversary of the Cuban Revolution, who painted graffiti on a wall of the Cuauhtémoc borough building to demand the return of the statues.

Brugada Molina spoke in favor of “acting by putting dialogue with the population above all else,” mentioning that there are other types of demonstrations in which “it is about bigger matters like hitting people, destroying businesses, private places, in short, well, what is appropriate, effectively, is to apply the law, because these are stronger actions.”

“When it comes to graffiti, well, here it gives way to allowing the right to free expression. That has been the case in Mexico City, there has been freedom in that,” she expanded.

Last year, the capital’s authorities reported that the removal of the statues was illegal, because it was not approved by the Committee of Monuments and Artistic Works in Public Spaces.