Uruguay’s president, Luis Lacalle Pou, wanted to melt down a bronze Nazi eagle salvaged from the wreck of a German warship and transform it into a dove of peace (see video). However, there was strong resistance to the plans from culture and politics, so the president withdrew his controversial project.
“There is a large majority that disagrees with the project,” Lacalle Pou said of his conversion plans on Sunday. “And if you want peace, one of the most important things is to have unity.” His plan “clearly didn’t secure that.”
Should become a “symbol of peace”.
The president only announced the conversion of the two-meter-high bronze eagle, which weighs more than 300 kilograms, on Friday. He explained that a “symbol of violence and war” must become a “symbol of peace and unity”. There were immediate violent protests against this, both from cultural circles and from politics, including from the government coalition.
The two-meter Nazi eagle, which stands on a swastika in an oak wreath, once adorned the stern of the German battleship “Admiral Graf Spee”. The ship had been involved in the Battle of the Río de la Plata against the British Navy at the start of World War II.
dispute about sales
The statue was found in 2006 after ten years of searching in the mouth of the river. In 2019, a court ruled that the statue must be sold and half of the proceeds go to the salvage company. According to the company, this division was agreed with the Uruguayan Navy in 2004. The companies therefore filed a lawsuit, accusing the government of breach of contract.
The government wanted to prevent the eagle from being sold because they feared that the neo-Nazis could buy the statue. The German government also expressed its concern. Last year, the Supreme Court of Uruguay ruled that the eagle is state property.
Ship sunk after sea battle
In December 1939, the “Admiral Graf Spee” took part in the first naval battle of the Second World War between the fleet of the Third Reich and the British Navy. After heavy fighting with three British warships, the “Admiral Graf Spee” entered Montevideo harbor for repair work. However, due to a blockade by the British Navy, the commander gave up and sank the ship. Three days later he committed suicide.
Source: Krone
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