The leafy green parks of Mexico City's elegant Polanco neighborhood have their politically comforting statues. There's Abraham Lincoln, poised thoughtfully near a shallow pond. Across from him, there's Martin Luther King. And a few blocks away, Mohandas Gandhi.

And then there's the newest addition, a real head-scratcher: Heydar Aliyev, the late strongman of Azerbaijan.

The presence of Aliyev, in larger-than-life bronze on a well-traveled segment of the city's iconic Reforma Boulevard, has infuriated residents. At least those few who are able to figure out who he is.

"It would be like taking the Washington Mall, and putting a memorial for Idi Amin there," said Eduardo Farah, a community activist, referring to the former Ugandan dictator.

Farah led a small demonstration the other day at Aliyev's feet. Some of the 20 or so participants waved a banner calling for removal of "the dictator."

"This is an affront," said demonstrator Homero Aridjis, an acclaimed poet and environmentalist. "We have enough bad symbols here in Mexico, we don't need to import them from outside."

The government of Azerbaijan, a former Soviet republic a gazillion miles from Mexico (more than 7,800, for you sticklers), was allowed to erect the statue after paying to spruce up that particular corner of Polanco, even though that meant tearing down a few trees. It spent $3 million to $5 million for the 1/3 -acre patch plus another park downtown.

Aliyev sits on a white marble pedestal, his name embossed in golden letters, in front of a jagged stone map of Azerbaijan. Wrought iron benches for viewing surround the statue and a plaque tells us that the former KGB master, who ruled from 1993 until just before his death in 2003, "is a shining example of infinite devotion to the homeland" who steered Azerbaijan through "prosperous democratic development."

There's no mention of WikiLeaks cables in which an American ambassador compared the Aliyev dynasty to the Mafia's Corleone family. Or to Azerbaijan's ranking by Transparency International as one of the most corrupt countries, or its many years on a U.S. government blacklist. Or to the numerous human rights reports that accuse the Aliyevs — Heydar was succeeded by his son Ilham -of repressing domestic dissent.

Farah, Aridjis and the other activists have something else in mind: How about the Park of Shame?