Cristo del Pacífico

Cristo del Pacífico, "the Christ of the Pacific", is a 37 metre high statue of Jesus erected in Lima, Peru, in 2011. Its erection was ordered by Alan García, the president of Peru, and described as a parting gift to the nation on occasion of his leaving office after the 2011 presidential election. It was inspired by, and has been described as a copy of, the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro.

Height

At 37 metres including its pedestal, and 22 m without, the statue is smaller than the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, which measures 39.6 m, 30 m without its pedestal.

Controversy

The statue has caused controversy in Peru, because it is seen as a government endorsement of Christianity, because its lighting system is deemed unsightly, and because it is seen as too similar to the Christ the Redeemer statue.^[1] No coherent explanation of this controversy can exclude the fact that García is widely disliked among many sectors of the Peruvian people; derisive nicknames for the statue, all based on the Rio statue's alternate Spanish name Cristo del Corcovado, include "Cristo de lo Robado" ("Christ of the Stolen [Loot]", in reference to accusations of government corruption during García's first term in the 1980's) and "Cristo del Gordo Vago" (Christ of the Fat Lazybones", in reference to García having put on weight).

References

1. ^ "World's tallest Christ statue erected in Peru". http://www.rte.ie/news/2011/0630/christperu.html.