This is a free attraction located in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of DC on the corner of Virginia and New Hampshire Aves; NW. The statue was sculpted by Enrique Alciati and is one of three Statues that run along Virginia Avenue that honor important Latin Americans.

   The Statue is of Benito Juarez (1806-1872), who was a full-blooded Zapotec Indian.  He was born to illiterate parents but learned to read and write from a Catholic Priest.  He later went on to become a layer, then helped draft the Constitution of Mexico.

   When General Santa Ana took control of Mexico, Juarez fled to New Orleans, only to return when Santa Ana was overthrown.  In 1861, Juarez was elected President.  He became a friend of Abraham Lincoln who gave him advice on establishing a democracy. 

    There was an exchange of statues of sorts. In 1969, Lyndon Johnson, president of the US presented Mexico with a statue of Abraham Lincoln and Mexico presented this statue to the United States.

    An interesting fact about the statue is that it's said that Mexico labels Juarez as Mexico's "George Washington", so the statue is said to be pointing to the bust of George Washington on the campus of George Washington University.  I've yet to look for that, but maybe my next trip, I'll try to verify it.