The inauguration ceremony of President Daniel Noboa for a second term took place last Saturday in the plenary session of the National Assembly, right in front of the work, titled La Patria.

Following the event, a debate erupted on social media, with some suggesting that the monumental mural, with a powerful symbolic force, should be removed and placed in a museum.

It surely bothers them because they lack the moral standing to honor each of the stages of the country’s history that maestro Guayasamin recounted with his art, commented former Citizens’ Revolution assemblywoman Gisella Garzon.

In its 23 panels, Guayasamin expressed his vision of the pain, resistance, and dignity of the Ecuadorian and Latin American people.

The mural La Patria is filled with symbols: crying mothers, tied hands, anguished faces, human figures broken by injustice, and in the center, a woman screams with her fist raised, as if addressing those who govern on her behalf.

In response to the discussion on digital platforms, Ecuadorian artist Pavel Eguez stated that what most bothers the “oligarchy” is the section on the interference of the United States and the CIA, “because it’s not history, it’s current; it represents the fascism that supports genocide like that of Palestine.”

“If reality bothers them, if history bothers them (where many profited from people’s poverty), they can complain in their rooms.

But the State and the people have memories, and that memory will always determine our course as a country,” said lawyer and human rights defender Fernando Bastias.

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