 Pablo Etchevers  Jorge González
The first bronze monument to honor Ernesto "Che" Guevara was raised on June 14,2008 in the City of Rosario in commemoration of its 80th birthday anniversary. |
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Much has been said and written about Che Guevara. It is assumed that he was the bravest of men, the best lover, a fan of Rosario Central (a soccer team from Rosario), a photographer, a journalist, a banker, a peasant, a worker, etcetera, etcetera and more and more etceteras…. And years will go by and his life will add up professions, honors, anecdotes and even envy.
The Result of Voluntary Work
When Zerneri was asked about the origin of this monument, he explained: “as a plastic artist I have always believed in the strength that is multiplied through collective work and after doing some research about the tributes to Che, Ernesto I realized that even if there is a great deal of them in various cities all round our country, there was no bronze monument of great magnitude”
The model, made in clay, was plated in bronze with the over 3 thousand kilos off copper donated by Argentinian citizens and the dwellers of neighboring countries for such purpose.
History goes that Che would have liked the fact that this work was not financed by anything other than the collective labor of the people, what he referred to as voluntary work which during his stay in Cuba was practiced every Saturday.
Today it is our house’s turn; tomorrow it is his; the day after tomorrow it will be my turn and so on and so forth. Everybody contributed to improve the life quality of their neighbor and initiatives emerged from the very inhabitants of Havanna, a feeling that later spread onto the rest of the country. |
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Zerneri and Everyone’s Keys
The statue was made by plastic artist Andrés Zerneri and it is a collective work, as its author, so to speak, was just a connection between the great deal of admirers who collected the keys and the statue itself.
It is obvious that there is also the excellent artistic labor performed by a creator who managed one of the most outstanding motto left by famous Che: voluntary work is the best work of all.
The aim of the author was to convey some essential values for the future generations regarding ethics, political integrity, solidarity or effort to be always the best in order to help others, something Che considered to be just common sense.
For a little bit more than 2 years, people left their keys or other objects made of copper at Zeneri’s workshop, located in the neighborhood of Palermo, so that the initiative could take shape little by little.
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Rosario Has Always Been Close
It is important to point out that this initiative never had any kind of support from any official entity. Therefore, many people considered it popular and not related to any political party. This is quite an asset these days. Rosario (Che’s birthplace) was chosen to raise the figure of Che for good.
In Argentina, cities like Rosario, Alta Gracia and Buenos Aires have marked the life of this revolutionary man who took his courage and ideals for a ride all around America to end up ennobling his beloved Cuba. He died but his values and his struggling spirit remain unaltered and they even continue growing everyday.
Some of those who have seen the monument assert that even if its author mentioned four meters, the monument grows one centimeter every day. We will have to visit it. Anything is possible as far as Che is concerned. |
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To get an idea of the majesty of this monument, we can say that it reaches a height of 4 meters, that it was made with 3,056 kilos of collected copper and that 14,454 people took part in this undertaking by donating their keys and other objects made of bronze. Donations were calculated in over 75,000 keys.
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