Ambassador Silverstein joins Rotary Club of
Montevideo in inauguration of FDR statue
U.S. Embassy, Rotary Club commission
new bust of the 32nd US president on Avenida de las Americas.
April 13, 2004
Photos below
Ambassador Martin J. Silverstein
and Hector Rubio Sica, president of the Rotary Club of Montevideo,
laid flowers at the base of a monument and unveiled a new
bust of U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt Monday
(April 12).
The statue of Roosevelt, the 32nd U.S. president,
had been destroyed with dynamite by terrorists in 1979.
The bust of the late president was replaced by the Rotary
Club in 1997, only to be stolen in 2002. This latest work,
by Uruguayan sculptor Velarde Gil Perez, was funded through
a donation from the Roosevelt Foundation of New York, with
the support of the Rotary Club and U.S. Embassy, Montevideo.
In a ceremony in Roosevelt Park, attended
by the Ambassador, U.S. Embassy representatives, Rotary
Club members and the media, the new bust was revealed. Monday
was the 59th anniversary of President Roosevelt’s
death.
Speaking before the small crowd, Rubio Sica
said the Rotary Club’s work in this project, “demonstrates
that there is no specific reason for men to hate each other;
that because of differences in cultures and races or for
different reasons or bad interpretations, we have not reached
a liberal understanding. We should find the precise formula
to work successfully for universal peace. If we succeed
in accomplishing this, the highest Rotarian aspirations
will come true.”
After the ceremony, Ambassador Silverstein spoke to the
media.
“It’s important to recognize
the positive activities of the Rotary and the excellent
job they do in making certain we know about history and
also the present day in recognizing the needs of those less
fortunate than us in the world, especially children,”
he said.
“Franklin Delano Roosevelt was
a great president, a war time president,” the Ambassador
added. “Today marks the anniversary of his death so
it’s a fitting day to recognize him.”
