Where's Marty? At the Simon Bolivar statue in North Baltimore

Hi Everyone!

For years I have driven by this statue/monument where St.Paul St. meets North Charles St. in north Baltimroe City. Located in the Guilford neighborhood, in a small green space called Bedford Park, is a tributre to the "George Washington" of Venezuela, (and some say South America), Simon Bolivar. 

Bolivar was an historic figure from Venezuela who helped Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador. Peru, and Bolivia gain independence from Spain.

This, and a few others, were given to certain cities in the United States as a gesture of good will. It was dedicated on Venezuelan Independence Day April 19th 1961. That by the way was just two days after the start of the ill-fated Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba.

Yes there were a lot of things going on, and yes there were probably some geopolitical reasons for this, and the other statues given. Cuba was the first communist intrusion into this hemisphere. It is written that oil companies were very concerned about that and needed "Uncle Sam" to be on alert. (Lake Maracaibo in North Venezuela is a major oil producing area.) A deep look at the world in 1961 starts bringing the pieces together.  But why is it in the very non-political neighborhood of Guilford? 

K2 and I were joined this morning by Molly Ricks of Baltimore Heritage.  Baltimore Heritage is a non-profit dedicated to preserving historic Baltimore and they, even, have some questions about this placement. But here it is, and it is a beautiful work by sculptor Felix de Weldon. (He is most known for the stunning and historic statue of the flag being raised over Iwo Jima, Japan.)

Baltimore has been known as the monumental city for a couple of centuries because of all the statues and monuments found here. And this one just made me look twice. And a good segment it was. Watch and see.

Marty B!