A statue of Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro has been reinstated in the center of Peru’s capital Lima, more than 20 years after it was removed.
The sculpture was unveiled during the celebration of the 490th anniversary of the founding of the city.
Pizarro founded Lima in 1535 after defeating the Inca Empire and claiming their land for the Spanish crown.
Indigenous leaders say he was a mass murderer who destroyed their culture, while those who supported the return of the statue said Peru should not erase its history.
The monument, depicting Pizarro on horseback with drawn sword, was created by the American sculptor Charles Rumsey and was offered by his widow to commemorate the city’s 400th anniversary in 1935.
In 2003, it was moved to a park next to the train tracks outside the city center after calls for its removal.
Luis Bogdanovich, who was in charge of restoring the historic center, told local media that the statue was damaged by the constant passing of trains, causing it to crack.
Rafael López Aliaga, the mayor of Lima, and Isabel Díaz Ayuso, president of the Community of Madrid, unveiled the bronze statue on Saturday along with Mr. Bogdanovich and several of Pizarro’s descendants in Lima’s main square, the Plaza de Armas.
Díaz Ayuso said the ceremony marks “not only the birth of the city, but also the beginning of a historic encounter that changed the world forever,” Spanish daily El Pais reported.
Dozens of Peruvians held protests nearby against the return, according to the AFP news agency.
“This is an insult, an insult to all the indigenous peoples of Peru, Latin America and the world,” one person said.
