Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro Fidel Castro on January 1, 1959, waving to a cheering crowd upon his arrival in Havana after dictator Fulgencio Batista fled the island. (more) Statue of Fidel Castro and Che Guevara Removed in Mexico City ProCon headline Ask the Chatbot a Question More Actions Print print Print Please select which sections you would like to print: Table Of Contents Cite verifiedCite While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Select Citation Style MLA APA Chicago Manual of Style Copy Citation Share Share Share to social media Facebook X URL https://www.britannica.com/procon/Statue-of-Fidel-Castro-and-Che-Guevara-Removed-in-Mexico-City Feedback Feedback Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Feedback Type Select a type (Required) Factual Correction Spelling/Grammar Correction Link Correction Additional Information Other Your Feedback Submit Feedback Thank you for your feedback Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

　　External Websites Ask the Chatbot a Question Written and fact-checked by The Editors of ProCon ProCon's editors write and verify new content and update existing content. ProCon presents the pro and con arguments to debatable issues in a straightforward, nonpartisan, freely accessible way. The Editors of ProCon Last Updated: Aug 18, 2025 • Article History Table of Contents Table of Contents Ask the Chatbot ProCon Issue in the News: A statue of communist revolutionaries Fidel Castro and Che Guevara was removed from Tabacalera Park in Mexico City in July 2025 by Alessandra Rojo de la Vega, mayor of the Mexico City municipality Cuauhtémoc.

　　Che GueveraRevolutionary Che Guevara played a key role in the Cuban Revolution alongside Fidel Castro.(more)The statue depicts Castro and Guevara seated on a bench, and it was installed in 2017 to commemorate their 1955 meeting in Mexico City. The two are shown in conversation, planning the Cuban Revolution. The revolution resulted in the overthrow of Fulgencio Batista’s government in Cuba and Castro’s rise to power.

　　Rojo de la Vega called the Castro and Guevara “murderers,” referencing the many Cubans who were persecuted, jailed, and killed during Castro’s regime, and said, “I understand that there are people who see Fidel and Che as their revolutionary figures, but governing isn’t about choosing which victims to show solidarity to.”

　　Mexico’s president Claudia Sheinbaum disagreed, calling the statue’s removal “illegal” and “total intolerance.” However, during her time as the head of Mexico City government, the leftist politician removed a plaque commemorating former right-wing Mexican president Gustavo Díaz Ordaz and a monument to Christopher Columbus. Rojo de la Vega noted this point when explaining that she did not expect controversy to arise from the statue’s removal: “I don’t think a dictator is any less of a dictator if they’re from the left, the center or the right.”

　　Discussion Questions Should historic statues be taken down? Why or why not? Explore the debate here.Who should decide if statues should be removed? Explain your answer.Consider statues in your town or city. If you were in charge of keeping or removing them, how would you proceed? Source James Wagner, “Removal of Castro and Guevara Statues Ignites Outcry in Mexico” (July 26, 2025), nytimes.com