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The iconic Pelú statue of Baracoa, a local symbol representing the popular spirit of Cuba's first city, was found brutally destroyed. The images show the figure torn from its pedestal, lying on the ground like a fallen symbol of a city that seems to forget itself.
El Pelú was not just any monument. It was a piece that arose from affection and collective memory, a tribute to a real character who, with his , won the hearts of several generations of Baracoans.
Born in Poza, province of A Coruña in Spain, as Vicente Rodríguez, he was nicknamed "El Pelú" for his curly hair and also "El Misterioso" for his endless walks along the waterfront, talking to himself or greeting with solemnity. He became a living part of the urban landscape.
For years, he was at once a myth, a beloved figure, and a social enigma. He passed away in 2009, and nearly a decade later, his memory was immortalized in bronze through the work of sculptor Abel Lobaina Arias.
The statue, inaugurated on the pedestrian walkway of Baracoa in 2018, was built in collaboration with the Cuban Fund for Cultural Goods and the Caguayo Foundation. It was a gesture of community love, a symbol that the marginalized, the different, and the popular also deserve a place in visible history.
The initial report of the breakage came from user Lari Mar, who shared a heartfelt and furious reflection in the Facebook group Baracoesos: “Only beasts could destroy a detail that was made with so much love for our city. What a disaster!”.
In her text filled with pain and anger, she denounced the "human precariousness" and the "lack of moral ethics" of those who, in addition to destroying her, publicly mocked the situation. And her outrage was not an isolated incident.
Henry de Armas Acosta described the incident as "a shame" and called for those responsible to "explain to the people of Baracoa and all of Cuba why they are attacking the culture, the history, and the beauty of a city." He referred to them directly as "murderers of the culture and history of an entire people." He also demanded that the case be addressed with the same intensity as other criminal offenses.
Meanwhile, the local radio journalist Pablo Gomero Machado confirmed that the statue —seriously damaged— was removed the same morning of the vandalistic act. He mentioned that it was the work of the sculptor Abel, “a figure in our history, located in our pedestrian walkway,” and called for “the strength of justice and the reproach of the people of Baracoa who deeply love our local history” to fall upon the culprits.
At the same time, Hendrys Domínguez recalled with concern that this is not an unprecedented event: “This is the second time I am aware of this happening. I hope they are caught and made to pay dearly. They should be imprisoned!”
The photos leave no room for doubt. The sculpture has been uprooted entirely, revealing deep fractures in its structure and a crater at the base that once proudly supported its form. The location—a small pedestrian pavilion—now appears to be the scene of a cultural crime.
So far, local authorities have not provided any explanations or issued statements. The institutional silence adds to the public outrage. Was it vandalism? Negligence? A premeditated attack? The only thing that is clear is that the sculpture of Pelú fell… and with it, a piece of the soul of Baracoa.
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