This sculpture by Enrique Alciati is one of three along Virginia Avenue to honor Latin American heroes. Benito Juarez was a full-blooded Zapotec Indian who became president of Mexico in 1860. This revolutionary reform figure in Mexican history came to be called the builder of modern Mexico.

Because Juarez drew parallels to Abraham Lincoln's life and career, Mexico and the United States exchanged gifts. In 1966, Lyndon Johnson gave a portrait statue of Lincoln to Mexico. In 1969, the government of Mexico presented this sculpture of Juarez to the United States.

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