The Statues of Paseo de los Heroes

The Statues of Paseo de los Heroes

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An M-shaped structure that’s better known among locals as “Las Tijeras,” for its scissor-blade form, Monumento a México greets fresh arrivals at the first major roundabout in the city after the San Ysidro border crossing. Designed by Mexico City artist Ángela Gurría in 1981, it is said to represent the union of indigenous and European cultures that make up the modern Mexican race.

The 11th and final ruler of the Aztec empire, Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma reigned from 1502 to until the beginning of the Spanish conquest in the 1520s. Crafted by Guerrero artist Alfonso Casarrubias in 1977, he symbolically gazes north toward the States, just a mile away.

The work of Yucatán sculptor Humberto Peraza, Abraham Lincoln came as a gift from the U.S. government, part of a statue exchange between the two countries. In return, Mexico gifted a statue of Benito Juarez, Mexico’s first indigenous president and Lincoln’s would-be counterpart, which stands on North Michigan Avenue in Chicago