The Barrio of Santa Ana Has a New Monument

by Barry Zahn

In June of 2010 the barrio of Santa Ana acquired a new monument. In the center of the glorieta at the beginning of the Paseo de Montejo ("remate") and Calle 47 the Ayuntamiento de Mérida erected a monument to the father and son duo of Francisco de Montejo. A very brief history of the Montejo's according to Answer.com:

"Montejo was commissioned to conquer the Maya of Yucatán, but failed in his attempt (1527-28) to take the peninsula from the east. He proceeded to Mexico, subdued (1530) Tabasco, and then conducted (1531-35) a campaign from the west. At first partially successful, he encountered increasingly fierce Maya resistance, and his men, exhausted and finding no booty, deserted. Forced to withdraw from the peninsula, he retired again to Mexico, a disillusioned and impoverished man. In 1540 he entrusted the conquest to his son, Francisco de Montejo, who by 1542 effectively subdued the western part of the peninsula, founding Campeche, Mérida, and other settlements."

Plaque on the sidewalk directly east of the monument is a small monument that states:

"In memory of those that began and gave their names to this paseo on February of 1888, the City Hall of Mérida, presided over by Cesar Bojorques Zapata, erected this monument to the Montejos, illustrious ancestors of the Méridanos, with the support of the arts center Prohispen (Prohispen is the cultural center supported by Asociación Civil “Patronato Prehistoria Peninsular, AC," whose mission it is to preserve the collective memory of the peninsula), headed by the Señora Margarita Diaz Rubio, the sculpture by Reynaldo Bolio Suarez was assessed historical by Juan Francisco Peon Ancona, historian of Mérida."

On the lower part of the stone is a plaque stating, "This monument includes the sponsorship of the family of the Juan Ramon Rodriguez Jimenez and an Engineers Friends Group."

In the middle of the glorieta is the monument itself. It is constructed of concrete blocks covered with Crema Maya stone. At the top is a bronze statue of The Montejos, father and son facing north up the paseo. The father is depicted as a conquistador and the son a statesman. The plaque on the monument reads, "To the memory of the illustrious Señors Francisco de Montejo, who advanced the Yucatán and of his son, Francisco, el Mozo, founder of Mérida and its first City Hall on January 6, 1542."

This new monument is not without its share of controversy. The evening of July 15, 2010 a protest was held at the monument. There a wreath was placed up on the monument by the plaque, a banner with numerous statements was wrapped around its base and a number of casts painted with red to signify severed bloody limbs were scattered around the bottom. Most of the quotes refer to the treatment of the indigenous Maya by the Spanish Conquistadors. Some of the inscriptions include phrases such as: "Mérida American capital of racism and discrimination" and "¡¡The decolonization of the peninsula and of this walk has already begun and will not stop!!"