The budget package approved by the US Congress on Monday included a bill to build a Latino museum, putting Spanish culture at the center of Washington’s symbolic esplanade.
For Estuardo Rodríguez, one of the main promoters of this idea, this is “a dream come true” after more than two decades of struggle and also a “validation” and “recognition” for the Latino population in the United States, in a particularly difficult year because of the pandemic.
“This gives us hope at the end of such a difficult year that the work and sacrifice of our grandparents was not in vain,” Rodríguez, CEO of the Friends of the National Latino American Museum, told AFP.
The approval also included a departure for the creation of a museum on the history of women, settling a long debate in Congress and in society as to whether these initiatives represent a fragmentation of American identity or a celebration of diversity.
Now the law must be signed by Republican President Donald Trump, who must give way to a long process that could take up to a decade until the institutions open their doors.
The campaign to construct the building began in 1994 when a committee from the Smithsonian Institution, which manages the museums in the US capital, determined that the existing centers showed a “pattern of deliberate neglect” towards Latino culture.
Decades and a succession of governments passed until, in July 2020, the House of Representatives approved a two-pronged initiative to build the museum.
Danny Vargas, chairman of the board of directors of Friends of the National Latino American Museum, said in a statement that the processing of this law is “the culmination of a decades-long effort to create an institution that contributes nearly 500 years. of the Latinos “in the country.
“The time has come to tell the stories that have been excluded from our history and that were missing from our museums,” added Vargas.
Democratic Senator Bob Menendez welcomed the initiative, saying it was the culmination of a path full of “immense obstacles.”
“As I’ve said on other occasions, Latinos are used to overcoming obstacles,” he said in a statement, stating that he would like to bring his granddaughters to the museum.