President Ernesto Zedillo of Mexico will visit this year. The engineer in charge of the government office that supervises public works, Rafael Serrulle told the local press that the government is spending RD$6 million to restore the monument that honors Father Antón de Montesinos, renown as the first human rights activist in the Americas. The Spanish priest lobbied for the rights of Indians that were mistreated by the Spanish colonists in the 16th century. The monument was donated to the DR by the Mexican government of then President José López Portillo. Press reports say that the Mexican President will visit at the end of September. President Leonel Fernández personally invited President Zedillo to visit during his trip to Mexico, on 17 August 1997.
