Havana, July 2 (RHC) A bronze statue of José Martí, Cuba's National Hero, was unveiled on Monday at the entrance of the Caribbean nation's embassy in Washington, D.C.
The sculpture is the work of Cuban José Villa Soberón, National Prize of Visual Arts, and it is inspired by one of the few photos in which the independence leader (1853-1895) is portrayed.
The Cuban ambassador to the United States, José Ramón Cabañas, explained that the sculpture reflects a thoughtful and a worried Martí, a Martí who tries to understand a reality to change it.
"The hero portrayed in the statue is the one who dedicated himself to organizing the war against Spanish rule among the Cuban cigar workers in Ybor City, in the southern American city of Tampa; the one who walked through Jamaica or came to Washington DC in 1891," said the diplomat.
He noted that the inauguration of the work, cast by artist Lázaro Valdés and his Asubronze team in Miami, Florida, coincides with the 130th anniversary of the publication in New York, for the first time, of La Edad de Oro (the Golden Age,) a magazine that Marti dedicated to children.
He also recalled that on July 1, 2015, through an exchange of letters between the governments of Cuba and the United States, the restoration of bilateral diplomatic relations was announced, which became effective on July 20 of that same year with the reopening of the embassy.
The placement of this statue also coincides with the 100th anniversary of the embassy of the island in Washington DC, with the 60th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution and the visit of its historic leader, Fidel Castro to the diplomatic legation.
Cheryl LaBash, co-director of the National Solidarity Network with Cuba, highlighted the importance of the figure of the hero being present at 2630 16th Street and considered it a new success for the friends of the island.
In turn, Aisha Cort, professor of Cuban origin at Howard University, said that the Master, as the independence fighter is also known, is synonymous with the people of the Caribbean territory and a symbol that unifies Cubans everywhere in the world.
