The president of the Duartiano Institute, Dr. Wilson Gómez Ramírez, questioned this Friday the installation in the central park of Pedernales of a mural that honors the memory of Juan Pablo Duarte, in which the patrician appears with distorted physical features and demanded to repair the damage .
He indicated that “under no circumstances can we accept this disrespect.”
He said that it is up to the National Police and the Public Ministry to thoroughly investigate these excesses to submit to Justice those who, as a result of said investigations, end up with their criminal responsibility compromised.
He insisted that this image does not correspond to the facial characteristics of the father of Dominican nationality, it does not correspond to the facial characteristics of the father of the country.
a desecration
He considered that it is a “desecration” in violation of articles 6 and 7 of Law 127-01, which grants legal status to the Duartiano Institute and authorizes it to disseminate the life and work of Duarte.
Article 6 of that legislation says that “any entity, natural person or individual that desecrates the name, work or image of the patrician Juan Pablo Duarte incurs a violation of this Law.”
Article 7 indicates that “the violation of this Law will be sanctioned with a penalty of six days to one month in prison and a fine of eighty percent of a minimum wage in the public sector or two minimum wages, both penalties at the same time, without prejudice to the withdrawal and destruction of the objects, in the cases in which it proceeds. In case of recidivism, the penalty will be doubled.
Article 5 of the same legislation specifies that “distinctions, decorations, awards, competitions that bear or should bear the name of Juan Pablo Duarte may not be granted without having previously received the opinion of the Duartiano Institute, except those that prevent the powers public.
Gómez Ramírez urged the country’s municipal authorities to make a greater effort to safeguard public spaces and patriotic monuments, through greater surveillance and control.
“This painting of the founder of the Republic, Juan Pablo Duarte y Díez, which was made by strangers on a mural in the central park of Pedernales, and which gave rise to an attempt to restore it, is far from the physiognomic features of the patrician,” he insisted.
correct the grievance
“I ask the municipal authorities and the Central Government to correct this distortion as soon as possible, to stop this damage to the image of Duarte,” he added.
He indicated that he sent a correspondence with his request to the municipal authorities of Pedernales.
Gómez Ramírez expressed the willingness of the Duartiano Institute to travel to Pedernales to correct the “ominous situation.”
However, he indicated that this patriotic entity will act in the case “if there is a quick response from the authorities.”
He assured that the image of the patrician raised by the National Army close to the dividing line with Pedernales is also distorted.
What they say in Pedernales
A version collected by the correspondent for El Nacional in Pedernales, Julio Gómez, indicates that, in 2014, during the provincial sports games organized by the Ministry of Sports, a muralist identified as Federico Velázquez painted the mural questioned by the Duartiano Institute. .
He adds that, during the mayoralty of Andrés Emilio Jiménez, the painter Rafael Antonio Féliz carried out the renovation of the central park, with the general painting of the place. However, the painter Antonio Féliz came forward to rumors that he had restored the mural with the figure of Duarte and assured that he had nothing to do with it.
