A ceremony was organized by the Mexican Embassy in Lebanon on Saturday to commemorate the restoration of the Lebanese Emigrant statue in Beirut.
The site where the statue stands sustained heavy damage during the August 4 Beirut explosion, despite the 3.5-meter-tall sculpture evading any serious damage.
Mexican Ambassador to Lebanon José Ignacio Madrazo, alongside Lebanese Foreign Ministry representative Abir Ali, headed the ceremony, marking the statue’s restoration and celebrating the 76th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Lebanon and Mexico.
Several public figures and representatives and members of the Lebanese diaspora in Mexico attended the event, during which Ambassador Madrazo described the statue as “a salutation and an expression of the will to receive refugees that Lebanon and Mexico share.”
The Lebanese Emigrant statue was erected by Mexicans of Lebanese descent back in 2002 to represent Lebanese who have migrated to all countries around the world.
“After the tragic explosion on August 4, the square where the statue was erected was severely damaged and, despite all this, the sculpture itself was not damaged,” Madrazo noted during his speech.
“Many of us found this to be an expression of the image of the great resilience of the Lebanese people and their diaspora.”
For this reason, the Mexican Embassy evaluated the damage, and the Mexico-based Centro Libanés provided support for the restoration of the statue, according to the diplomat.
Ambassador Madrazo went on to praise the 700,000-strong Lebanese diaspora that is present in Mexico today.
“… The Lebanese community plays a key role in consolidating the close ties between the two countries, and our commitment is to work hard to fasten and strengthen these relations,” he concluded.
Back in April of this year, the Lebanese diaspora in Mexico raised over half a million dollars and renovated the intensive care unit (ICU) of Lebanese Hospital Geitaoui that had sustained severe damages from the Beirut Explosion.
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