Citizens confrontation for the placement of a bust of “Che” in Guayaquil

Bust in honor of Ernesto “Che” Guevara

Yesterday afternoon, hundreds of people gathered at the bottom of Santa Ana Port, at Barrio las Peñas, to  express their anger and others to support  the placement of a bust in honor of Ernesto “Che” Guevara, who commanded the Cuban Revolution.

 The majority group integrated by citizens of different sectors of the city supported the permanence of the obelisk in honor of former President and Mayor of Guayaquil, Leon Febres Cordero, which stands at the esplanade and demanded the permission of the assembly to place his bust which remains in customs for a legal dispute currently on appeal.

 The others, were government supporters and were present because of the invitation from the Coordinator of Solidarity with Cuba who imported a bust in tribute to “Che”. The group held a ceremony yesterday to inaugurate the monument.

 Two hours later, the city’s mayor, Jaime Nebot arrived to calm things down. He said, he was alarmed “by this annoying sentence which seeks to remove this monument (obelisk)”.

 Octavio Villacreses, coordinator of the Foreign Ministry for zone 5, said that the presence of the opposition supporters was premeditated and belligerent due to the placing of the Bust of “Che”. Despite the assurance that the inauguration of the sculpture was not political, pamphlets were distributed of the the government plan for 2013-2017, with the logo of Alianza PAIS (AP).

(BG)