Few monuments are as emblematic to the modern world as the Statue of Liberty, in New York. Precisely because it so strongly represents the capitalist ideal (the "American dream"), replicas of the colossus have been reproduced in other corners of the world. One of these replicas ended up in Rio de Janeiro. Installed in 1964, in Vila Kennedy, in the West Zone, the statue stands in Praça Miami. According to tour guide and researcher Alex Belchior, the monument was supposedly sculpted by the Frenchman Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi - creator of the Statue of Liberty inaugurated in 1886 in the USA.
Image description: This is a black-and-white photograph of a Statue of Liberty located in Vila Kennedy. The statue stands at the center of the image, with its hand raised holding a torch. In the background, there is a row of simple houses and a road that cuts through the scene. On the left, there is a small structure with a vertical grille. On the right, there is a green area with plants. On the horizon, there are mountains covered with vegetation.Replica of the Statue of Liberty, with Vila Kennedy, built with funds from the Alliance for Progress, in the background. CPDOC/FGV
The story of the Brazilian version of the monument goes back to the late 19th century, when Barão do Rio Branco acquired the statue and gave it as a gift to a relative of his, the commendador José Pereira da Rocha Paranhos. For many years the statue adorned the Rocha Paranhos family's residence in Urca, but in 1964 it was given a new destination, when the then governor of Guanabara, Carlos Lacerda, issued a decree turning the monument into public property. The maneuver allowed Lacerda to take the statue to the newly-inaugurated Vila Kennedy — built as a housing complex to shelter residents removed from favelas in the South Zone, such as Morro do Pasmado in Botafogo and Praia do Pinto, in Lagoa.
The neighborhood was built with investment from the USA through the Alliance for Progress, an international policy created by the U.S. government in the context of the Cold War, in order to halt the advances of communism in Latin American countries.
Image description: This is a black-and-white photograph of a Statue of Liberty located in Vila Kennedy. On the left, we see the statue's square base, with the statue itself positioned on top of it. On the right side, three children are playing on the grass. In the background, there are simple houses and a row of trees. The sky is clear and cloudless.Initially, the complex was to be called Vila Progresso, but the assassination of President John Kennedy in 1963 led Lacerda to change the name in tribute to the creator of the Alliance for Progress. In 1964, the installation of the Statue of Liberty in the neighborhood's main square (Praça Miami) symbolically sealed the partnership between Carlos Lacerda's government and the United States.
It is possible that the Brazilian Statue of Liberty, made of zinc and copper, was created from the original piece that served as the model for the U.S. version. However, the book carried by the Vila Kennedy statue alludes to Brazil's Proclamation of the Republic in 1889.
Image description: This is a photograph of a Statue of Liberty in Vila Kennedy. The statue is positioned at the center of the image, with green trees in the background. The statue is gray and holds a torch in its right hand. In front of it, there is an open book. The leaves of the trees are green and dense, covering much of the light blue sky.Despite being one of the symbols of U.S. influence and political intervention in Brazil, the monument became a historical heritage site of Vila Kennedy. It was restored in 2014 and listed as a heritage site by the city of Rio in 2017. However, both the square and the statue are currently in a state of neglect.
