Statue of María Lionza was moved to Sorte

Photo: Alicolmenares

A group called the Venezuelan Federation of Spiritism assured that the statue of María Lionza, original by the plastic artist Alejandro Colina, which had been kept in a shed at the Central University of Venezuela since 2004, was transferred to the Sorte mountain, in the Yaracuy state.

In a statement published in social networks The federation claimed responsibility for the transfer and pointed out that the disappearance of the statue was not a robbery, but the fulfillment of a “historical debt.”

The text refers to the complaint made earlier by the Preservation and Development Council of the UCV regarding the theft of the sculpture of María Lionza.

«No one stole it, no one subdued the UCV guards, no one violated any sentence. Here only fulfilled what was a historical debt to our goddess. She is already at her house », she expressed.

The Venezuelan Federation of Spiritism thanked Nicolás Maduro, his son Nicolás Maduro Guerra, Vice President of Religious Affairs of the PSUV, and the Yaracuy authorities for their support in the transfer.

“After 19 years in captivity, today the Day of Freedom, Love and Spiritual Union, our Mother Queen María Lionza travels from the capital city of the Republic to her sacred mountain on an unprecedented journey… We are happy, we are joyful”, Indian.

‘She was virtually kidnapped’

Freddy Ñañez, Vice President of Communication, Culture and Tourism, of the government of Nicolás Maduro, shared a statement on behalf of the so-called Presidential Commission for the Recovery of the UCV.

“The Institute of Cultural Heritage, in the exercise of its powers, issued urgent administrative protection and conservation measures to safeguard the integrity of the sculpture of María Lionza.”

“With these urgent measures, which are in execution, the Bolivarian government puts an end to the situation of abandonment in which this exceptional cultural asset, whose sole and true owner is the people of Venezuela, was found for almost 20 years,” reads in the notice.

And he continues: “The work, with visible signs of deterioration, was virtually sequestered without adequate conditions for its preservation, in a place inaccessible to the public, preventing its exhibition, in violation of the fundamental principles of the Defense of Cultural Heritage.”

He says that the sculpture is well protected and in charge of specialized technical teams.

The Institute of Cultural Heritage ordered to open an administrative process to determine responsibilities for the deterioration of the sculpture of María Lionza.

“University autonomy cannot be an excuse to put cultural heritage at risk or to keep it kidnapped,” the text states.

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