BY JORGE SMITH

 Havana, December 31, 2003.- A statue of late musician Compay Segundo has been unveiled in the National Hotel here, the last artistic locale of the legendary author of Chan Chan.

A great number of musicians, foreign visitors and people connected with the clarinetist and singer met in the National Hotel gardens to witness the unveiling of the work by renowned Cuban sculptor Alberto Lescay.

The standing effigy shows Francisco Repilado (1907-2003), also known as Compay Segundo, carrying his invented armónico and wearing his trademark hat.

The musician won world fame in 1998 at the age of 90, thanks to the Buena Vista Social Club project.

Lescay told Prensa Latina it was "a great honor and responsibility to create a sculpture of a man who deserves so much, and my personal satisfaction is that Compay Segundo not only remains in the memory of the people, but also in the work of art."

(Trabajadores)