US: New Mexico culture center removes conqueror statue

Authorities removed a bronze statue of a Spanish conqueror on horseback from a cultural center in northern New Mexico on Monday amid a new wave of criticism of the memorial as an affront to indigenous people and an obstacle to greater racial harmony.

A forklift pried the massive bronze statute of Juan de Oñate from a concrete pedestal, to the sound of cheers from bystanders along a rural highway in Alcalde.

The statute of an armored Oñate on horseback at a county-operated heritage education center has been a source of criticism for decades.

Oñate, who arrived in present-day New Mexico in 1598, is celebrated as a cultural father figure in communities along the Upper Rio Grande that trace their ancestry to Spanish settlers. But he's also reviled for his brutality.

To Native Americans, Onate is known for having ordered the right feet cut off of 24 captive tribal warriors that was precipitated by the killing of Onate's nephew.  In 1998, someone sawed the right foot off the statue.