Mayor of Cali confirmed that monument to the resistance will not be demolished

This Thursday, March 24, a security council discussed the future of the monument erected in Puerto Filena, it is the 'Monument to the Resistance' built last year as part of the National Parade, the structure that commemorates the victims by the public forces became a social symbol and is frequented by tourists. Well, today it was decided whether or not to continue in the capital of Valle del Cauca.

The mayor of Cali, Jorge Iván Ospina, said that the structure will continue in the square of the now well-known 'Puerto Resistencia': “It seems to me that it is very irresponsible that someone is stirring up the idea that the Cali Mayor's Office is going to demolish the monument to the resistance, because it is not true; it is a monument that has its permits,” said the Caleño president.

Mayor Ospina also indicated that the intention is that the place where the monument built in honor of the victims of the social mobilizations of the 2021 Paro is located will become a pedagogical point: “A space that is not a slum, but can give all those who built the monument a place for souvenirs, to do pedagogy and to be able to build a city of shared responsibilities”.

“The decision is already made: we are not going to demolish. What we do want is to order. It seems to us that if space is ordered and regularized, it will have much greater strength and vitality. We want there to be a whole cultural and entrepreneurial platform around the monument, which has permission from the Mayor's Office,” reiterated Mayor Jorge Iván Ospina.

Regarding the idea of the structure, according to the Las 2 Orillas portal, the idea of building the monument was born from a chess match between members of the first line of Puerto Resistencia, the monument was made with recyclable material provided by the people of the sector, old rods, sand, cement and paints. In addition, it was lifted in 16 days, as relief schedules were established with 8-hour shifts and groups of at least 25 people were put to work. According to the version of some of its builders, it represents the powerful hand of Kay Kimi Krachi, a Mayan god of battle, in addition, the faces of many of the protesters killed in the National Strike in Cali and other cities were captured.

“It is the construction of a fist that holds the word 'Resist' in the colors of our flag as a message of unity that this was not only done by our Caleño people, but by the Colombian people. We are paying a heartfelt tribute to the victims of the strike,” said Radio Juan, a spokesman for the protesters in that area of the capital of Valle del Cauca, to RCN Radio.

One of the references used was the Holocaust Memorial in Miami, a memory for all those who died unjustly in the Second World War in Nazi concentration camps. The most striking part of the monument is a 13-meter bronze hand on which hundreds of tormented human figures climb. The figures are carved with great precision and are capable of transmitting thousands of feelings. In addition, the monument has a dark stone tunnel with the names of the concentration camps engraved on the walls. It is intended to convey the loneliness and isolation that the Jews felt during their persecution.

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