The senator and leader of Cabildo Abierto, Guido Manini Rioshe referred again to the president’s decision Luis Lacalle Pouwhich was later discarded, melt the eagle of the Graf Spee and turn it into a dove.
“From the first moment we did not agree with that idea launched at a press conference by the president, understanding that this eagle represents a piece of history, even though it is negative, sad and that nobody wants to repeat it again. It should not be destroyed but should be used to teach future generations what happened one day so that the past does not repeat itself in the future.“, he said at his audition for Oriental 770.
“We can take advantage of what we have within the national heritage because it belongs to the Uruguayan State according to a court ruling, and use it. It could be exhibited in the existing museum alluding to the Graf Spee story in Durazno, in the Sarandí del Yí barracks, because it is the place where the government of the time interned the sailors who came to Uruguay“, he added.
“There were a lot of testimonies, documents, uniforms and different objects that are now exhibited in that museum. Being able to have this eagle would give that museum an unusual attraction that could generate an important movement that stimulates the economy of a locality as neglected as are almost all those that are in the deep interior“, he assured.
The senator assured that in 2017 he discussed the issue with the then Defense Minister, Jorge Menéndez. “It could not be resolved because the piece was still in dispute. Let the specialists, the Heritage Commission and others decide the best destination for the eagle, but my idea is that it stays in Uruguay and that it becomes an attraction for visitors who may come from the region and the world“.
Manini had been one of the main critics of Lacalle’s idea and had proposed presenting a bill to prevent the destruction of the eagle. “We will propose a bill that prevents the destruction of the eagle of the Graf Spee, and the creation of a commission made up of specialists to decide on its fate“, he pointed out on his Twitter account last Saturday.
