Fraternal group takes out ad to protest decisions on monuments

Spanish cultural organization calls for residents to put pressure on city government

The leaders of a 105-year-old fraternal organization took out a half-page ad in The New Mexican on Sunday, calling for the return of the Don Diego de Vargas statue to Cathedral Park and obelisks at both the Plaza and the U.S. District Courthouse to remain in their current locations.

Union Protectiva de Santa Fe, which bills itself as the city’s oldest Spanish cultural organization, joined with leaders of a pair of veterans groups in calling for people to contact Mayor Alan Webber and six of eight city councilors to let their feelings be known.

Virgil J. Vigil, the president of Union Protectiva, acknowledged he didn’t expect Webber or councilors Renee Villareal, Signe Lindell, Carol Romero-Wirth, Chris Rivera, Roman Abeyta and Jamie Cassutt-Sanchez to get an overwhelming reaction in response to the ad. But he said the monuments controversy would have political consequences.

“We’re pretty passive, pretty low-key. I don’t expect too many to call councilors,” Vigil said. “But when these guys go up for election, these people aren’t going to forget. They’ll speak up at the election box.”

An employee in Webber’s office said the mayor had received one phone call and one email as of midafternoon Monday.

Monuments to controversial historical figures and monuments in New Mexico history again flashed into public consciousness in June, when the statue of de Vargas was removed from Cathedral Park and Webber called to have the 153-year-old obelisk — considered offensive by many Indigenous people — removed from the Plaza.

Webber also has announced he will form a Truth and Reconciliation Commission that will evaluate every statue and monument in the city.

Union Protectiva, Vigil said, has about 400 members. Three of its officers — Vigil, Vice President Richard Barela and Secretary Patrick Varela — placed their names in the ad, along with Gilbert Romero, commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2951, and Harold Durr, Commander of American Legion Post 1.

In its ad, Union Protectiva said if the de Vargas statue could not be returned to Cathedral Park, it should go to a “wellknown visible space.”

It also singled out Councilors JoAnne Vigil Coppler and

Michael Garcia as standing up for preservation of Hispanic culture and the “history of Santa Fe.”

Calling the move an “anti Hispanic cultural attack,” the advertisement criticizes Webber’s “very secretive action” and claims he did not seek input from the city’s Hispanic organizations or the community at large.

“We have a long-term investment in this community. We have a long-term investment. And we believe that our culture needs to be protected and not put away somewhere, and say, ‘Oh, well, let’s just file it away in some drawer and everybody will forget about it,’ ” Barela said.

Webber has defended the move as a way to prevent potential violence at a Plaza rally that took place a few days after a shooting marred a protest in Albuquerque. He also said the changes would give the city a chance to create a more inclusive dialogue about history.

The Mayor’s Office declined to comment.

The obelisk, which was damaged when a crew tried to remove its top in June and later was vandalized, now is surrounded by an 8-foot plywood structure. It now is the backdrop for a community art project.

According to Union Protectiva’s website, the organization was set up in 1915 to help preserve the language and culture of Santa Fe “for future generations and descendants of Spanish colonists.” One of its important functions helps families pay for funeral and burial costs, a tradition that continues to this day, Vigil said.

Vigil said the frustration over the monuments is part of larger concern about Hispanic culture in the community.

“If we don’t protect history and its traditions, it’s going to disappear,” he said.