Mexico City's governor has confirmed that a statue of an indigenous woman will replace the capital's Christopher Columbus monument.

The statue was removed last year after indigenous rights activists threatened to tear it down.

Claudia Sheinbaum said it will be replaced by a replica of a pre-Columbian statue known as the Young Woman of Amajac.

She added that the new monument - set to to be three times as tall as the Columbus statue - was in recognition that "indigenous women had been the most persecuted" during and after the colonial period.

The original Young Woman of Amajac was discovered in January in Veracruz.

After the city government decided to remove the Columbus statute from its plinth, a number of proposals were put forward including a statue inspired by a pre-Hispanic Olmec head.

However, it was derided as a token gesture for its lack of authenticity, prompting Ms Sheinbaum to cancel it and opt instead for the Young Woman of Amajac.

The statue of Christopher Columbus will be moved to a park in another area of Mexico City.

Columbus statue to be replaced by indigenous woman.

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