Idioma

 

Mexico City residents have been surprised for a couple of months now, watching how a dirty and dusty corner of Chapultepec Forest, long-forgotten by local authorities, has been quickly transformed into a first class park, replete with its own lighting system, cobblestone walkways, benches with wax finishing, flower pots and even a bike track.

In the beginning we were told that it was a park to acknowledge the friendship between Mexico and Azerbaijan.  Due to the fact that Azerbaijan is a far-away country which is practically unknown  the majority of Mexicans, just added a bit of mystery to it all.

A statue of Azerbaijan’s ex-president, Heydar Aliyev, was added to the park in the final stage of its construction, along with an honorary plaque proclaiming him to be the hero who liberated this country.

We now know that this park cost about 65 million pesos and that these expenses we paid for by the Republic of Azerbaijan.

We also know – thanks to some academics familiar with this country – that for many people, Aliyev was a dictator who repressed human rights and who was an ex-KGB member who had worked for the communist USSR.

This scandal – which has garnered international attention – has led to a local community group’s questioning as to whether the monument should stay there, or if it should be moved to another site – Reforma Avenue being totally out of the question – or if it should be removed for good.

For the moment, the controversy has been centered around Aliyev’s gloomy personal history, but no one has been asking why the Mexico City government, headed by a left-wing party, the supposed defenders of democracy, human rights and universal values, didn’t hesitate to dedicate one of the city’s most important and transited corners, to someone who bears little resemblance to say, Mahatma Gandhi or Martin Luther King Jr.

The story behind this imperial sculpture – in which Aliyev, who has been involved in more than one coup d’état, is depicted sitting as if he were a Cesar –   is of a rather economic nature.

Since the collapse of the USSR and its independence from Russia, the Republic of Azerbaijan is on its way to becoming a new economic power situated right in the middle of Western Asia and Eastern Europe.  It has its border with Russia in the north and with Iran in the south and an 800 km of coastline on the Caspian Sea.

This is a nation rich in petroleum, natural gas, gold, silver, iron, copper and titanium.  It produces 1.4 million barrels of crude oil per day; all of the major international petroleum-producing companies are there in the country, sucking up the “black gold” from the bottom of the ocean.

An important fact to mention is that American fighter planes fueled up in Azerbaijan during the wars against Iraq and Afghanistan.   Washington has decided to make this country an ally due to its strategic geographical location and proven petroleum reserves, despite not meeting the requirements needed for an authentically democratic country.

Concrete statistics show just how prosperous Azerbaijan is.  In 2006, a 1,774 km gas-line that runs from Baku, the capital, to Turkey, was put into operation.  It has been designed to move more than 50 million tons of petroleum to Turkey per year.

To say it bluntly: the administration of Marcelo Ebrard has seen it fit to establish a relationship with a country which is incredibly rich and in a process of economic expansion, even though its human, political and social profiles are questionable.

Amidst the controversy that this statue has stirred up, the opposition leader in this Euro-Asian country has stated: “corruption has to be at play for a statue of this now-defunct dictator to have been erected”.

And moreover, he said: “that the Government of Azerbaijan is trying to clean up its image for the rest of the world”.  Everything would indicate that this country not only wants to become an economic power in its own region, but rather an international political player.  Instead of just seeing this monument as a link between Mexico and Azerbaijan, we should try and understand it as a relationship between Azerbaijan and Marcelo Ebrard, a future candidate for the presidency of Mexico.

The Aliyev statue and the Estela de Luz (the Tower or Wake of Light), also built on Reforma and shrouded in the corruption that its construction brought to light, should serve as lessons to make two new pieces of legislation when it comes to the construction of monuments.   The first one has to do with transparency.  The costs and reasoning for all projects must be publicly justified.  The second legislation would disallow members of government, governors or presidents to build statues, obelisks or effigies of a questionable origin or directed at obtaining some kind of personal, political or electoral gain.

The Mexico – Azerbaijan Friendship Park must remain as a link between these two countries, abounding with flowers and walkways; but without false heroes.