President Alan Garcia formally opened the monument, known as Cristo del Pacifico or Christ of the Pacific, on a hill in the capital Lima.
He personally helped fund the cost of the statue to the tune of around 100,000 Peruvian soles (£22,000) and has said it will "bless and protect Lima".
But he has faced strong criticism from several quarters, with many seeing it as a vanity project he chose to pursue before leaving office at the end of July.
Susana Villaran, the Mayor of Lima, condemned the lack of consultation over the statue and labelled it "a plastic copy of the Christ of Corcovado" in Rio de Janeiro. » | Robin Yapp | Sao Paulo | Thursday, June 30, 2011
