The president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, became a trending topic on social media again after posting a video on Facebook in which he recalls how the bronze from the Monument to Reconciliation, demolished in January 2024 by order of the Salvadoran government, was melted down and reused as sewer covers in the streets of the country.
The video, accompanied by the phrase "Building is valuable, restoring is admirable, but eliminating the horrible is essential," accumulated over 3.4 million views and 121,000 reactions on Facebook, quickly becoming one of the most talked-about pieces of content of the week in the region.
The monument, popularly known as the "blue doll", had been a subject of controversy since its installation.
At the time of its demolition, Bukele bid farewell to the work with a direct message on social media: Goodbye, blue doll, and everything you represented, a phrase that encapsulated the government's stance toward the symbols of the country's political past.
In the location where the sculpture once stood, the government has established a public square with a 2.5 km pedestrian circuit, which features an outdoor cinema and recreational spaces for citizens, as part of the urban transformation driven by the Bukele administration.
The post also sparked extensive debate on X (Twitter), where journalist Jorge Manzanares shared the content and recorded over 1.3 million views and 33,000 reactions, highlighting the viral reach of the government initiative beyond Salvadoran borders.
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