The towering statue of Jesus on a cliff overlooking the Pacific looks, at first glance, eerily like Rio de Janeiro’s majestic Christ the Redeemer, a famed icon of Brazil on the Atlantic side of the continent. The resemblance is not accidental.
To many Peruvians, the new statue that rises 118 feet (36 meters) has become a potent symbol of Brazil’s growing commercial and political influence in this Andean nation and across South America.
Outgoing President Alan Garcia had the “Christ of the Pacific” erected without any public consultation, and its appearance coincides with rapidly accelerating Brazilian investment in Peru, though the U.S. and Spain still invest far more.