A statue of Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro has been reinstated in the center of Peru's capital Lima, more than 20 years after it was removed.
The sculpture was unveiled during a ceremony marking the 490th anniversary of the founding of the city.
Pizarro founded Lima in 1535 after defeating the Inca Empire and claiming their lands for the Spanish crown.
Indigenous leaders say he was a mass murderer who destroyed their culture, while those who supported the statue's return said Peru should not erase its history.
The monument, which depicts Pissarro on horseback with drawn sword, was created by the American sculptor Charles Rumsey and was proposed by his widow in honor of the city's fourth centenary in 1935.
In 2003 it was moved to a park next to train tracks outside the city center after calls for its removal.
Luis Bogdanovic, who was in charge of restoring the historic center, told local media that the statue was damaged by the constant passing of trains, which caused it to crack.
The bronze statue was unveiled on Saturday alongside Mr Bogdanovic and several of Pizarro's descendants in Lima's main square, the Plaza de Armas.
Diaz Ayuso said the ceremony marked “not only the birth of a city, but also the beginning of a historic encounter that forever transformed the world,” Spanish daily El Pais reported.
Dozens of Peruvians demonstrated nearby opposing his return, according to the AFP news agency.
“This is an insult, an insult to all the indigenous people of Peru, Latin America and the world,” one person said.