COPACABANA, Bolivia (AP) — More than 50,000 people from Bolivia and neighboring Peru make a pilgrimage every August to Copacabana, on the shores of Lake Titicaca, to honor Bolivia's patron saint, Our Lady of Copacabana. In the main event of the celebration, a replica of the wooden-carved figure of the Virgin Mary leads a procession.
Her official feast is Feb. 2 — coinciding with Candlemas — but Aug. 5 marks the anniversary of her canonical coronation as the patron saint of Bolivia by a papal bull issued by Pius XII in 1925. This year is the 100th anniversary.
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A man is silhouetted against a burst of fireworks during celebrations honoring Bolivia's patron saint, the Virgin of Copacabana, in Copacabana, Bolivia, Monday, Aug. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
A man is silhouetted against a burst of fireworks during celebrations honoring Bolivia's patron saint, the Virgin of Copacabana, in Copacabana, Bolivia, Monday, Aug. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
Dancers perform during a religious procession honoring Bolivia's patroness, the Virgin of Copacabana, in Copacabana, Bolivia, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
A woman walks by a display of statues depicting the Virgin of Copacabana, Bolivia's patroness, before the start of a procession in her honor, in Copacabana, Bolivia, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
A woman holds a statue of the Virgin of Copacabana as she waits to take part in a procession honoring Bolivia's patroness, in Copacabana, Bolivia, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
Devotees take part in a procession to honor Virgin of Copacabana, the patroness of Bolivia, in Copacabana, Bolivia, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
“She has granted me various miracles,” said Elizabet Valdivia, who traveled 12 hours by road and boat from the Peruvian city of Arequipa to join the procession. “She gave us our car, the possibility of raising my son, and I always ask her to watch over our jobs.”
Our Lady of Copacabana’s basilica has safeguarded this Virgin Mary figure since the late 16th century. Her history dates back to 1583, when Inca descendant Francisco Tito Yupanqui crafted a figure in her honor.
According to Marcela Cruz, a guide at the museum next to the basilica, Yupanqui had a dream about the Virgin and molded a clay figure to depict her. He showed it to the chaplain, but after being rejected and mocked, he went for a walk by the lake.
“There, he encountered the image of the Virgin as an Inca maiden,” Cruz said. “That’s why her image is so simple.”
Inspired by the apparition, Yupanqui set off for the city of Potosí, about 330 miles (530 kilometers) from La Paz, the current capital city. There, he carved the image that is now revered in the basilica from a maguey tree trunk.
When Yupanqui traveled back to Copacabana, the town was under Spanish occupation, and both the Aymara and Quechua Indigenous people — now nationals from Bolivia and Peru — were at the site for evangelization purposes.
“She arrived at dawn on Feb. 2, and both the Aymara and the Incas bowed down to welcome her,” Cruz said.
The museum named after Yupanqui displays hundreds of gifts that devotees have presented over the centuries. These include capes embroidered with gold thread, votive offerings, letters in braille and silver crowns resembling those Simón Bolívar melted down to secure Bolivian independence in 1825.
“Our Lady of Copacabana is the mother who welcomes all of her children regardless of their race or culture,” said Itamar Pesoa, a Franciscan friar residing at the convent adjacent to the basilica. “Within Bolivia, she is the queen.”
According to Pesoa, pilgrims travel from all over South America to present her with offerings. Some women who were unable to have children thank her for enabling them to become mothers. Others praise her for helping them recover from serious illnesses.
Several Masses in her honor are celebrated daily starting Aug. 4.
“This devotion continues to be passed down from generation to generation and inspires many to follow Christ,” Pesoa said.
Yupanqui’s original figure has not left the basilica for a procession since her coronation in 1925, but devotees revere her replicas nonetheless.
In a nearby chapel, parishioners light candles — one per miracle requested — and patiently wait for them to burn out before leaving.
Sandra Benavides, who traveled from the Peruvian city of Cuzco, lit a candle and prayed for good health. She said some years ago she fell and the accident nearly killed her, but the Virgin interceded.
“Our Lady of Copacabana is miraculous,” Benavides said. “She is as if she were my mother, whom I have never had.”
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
A man is silhouetted against a burst of fireworks during celebrations honoring Bolivia's patron saint, the Virgin of Copacabana, in Copacabana, Bolivia, Monday, Aug. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
A man is silhouetted against a burst of fireworks during celebrations honoring Bolivia's patron saint, the Virgin of Copacabana, in Copacabana, Bolivia, Monday, Aug. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
Dancers perform during a religious procession honoring Bolivia's patroness, the Virgin of Copacabana, in Copacabana, Bolivia, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
A woman walks by a display of statues depicting the Virgin of Copacabana, Bolivia's patroness, before the start of a procession in her honor, in Copacabana, Bolivia, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
A woman holds a statue of the Virgin of Copacabana as she waits to take part in a procession honoring Bolivia's patroness, in Copacabana, Bolivia, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
Devotees take part in a procession to honor Virgin of Copacabana, the patroness of Bolivia, in Copacabana, Bolivia, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Most American presidents aspire to the kind of greatness that prompts future generations to name important things in their honor.
Donald Trump isn't leaving it to future generations.
As the first year of his second term wraps up, his administration and allies have put the president’s name on the U.S. Institute of Peace, the Kennedy Center performing arts venue and a new class of battleships.
That’s on top of the “Trump Accounts” for tax-deferred investments, the TrumpRx government website soon to offer direct sales of prescription drugs, the “Trump Gold Card” visa that costs at least $1 million and the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, a transit corridor included in a deal his administration brokered between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
On Friday, he plans to attend a ceremony in Florida where local officials will dedicate a 4-mile (6-kilometer) stretch of road from the airport to his Mar-a-Lago estate as President Donald J. Trump Boulevard.
It’s unprecedented for a sitting president to embrace tributes of that number and scale, especially those proffered by members of his administration. And while past sitting presidents have typically been honored by local officials naming schools and roads after them, it's exceedingly rare for airports, federal buildings, warships or other government assets to be named for someone still in power.
“At no previous time in history have we consistently named things after a president who was still in office,” said Jeffrey Engel, the David Gergen Director of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. “One might even extend that to say a president who is still alive. Those kind of memorializations are supposed to be just that — memorials to the passing hero.”
White House spokeswoman Liz Huston said the TrumpRx website linked to the president's deals to lower the price of some prescription drugs, along with “overdue upgrades of national landmarks, lasting peace deals, and wealth-creation accounts for children are historic initiatives that would not have been possible without President Trump’s bold leadership.”
"The Administration’s focus isn’t on smart branding, but delivering on President Trump’s goal of Making America Great Again," Huston said.
The White House pointed out that the nation's capital was named after President George Washington and the Hoover Dam was named after President Herbert Hoover while each was serving as president.
For Trump, it’s a continuation of the way he first etched his place onto the American consciousness, becoming famous as a real estate developer who affixed his name in big gold letters on luxury buildings and hotels, a casino and assorted products like neckties, wine and steaks.
As he ran for president in 2024, the candidate rolled out Trump-branded business ventures for watches, fragrances, Bibles and sneakers — including golden high tops priced at $799. After taking office again last year, Trump's businesses launched a Trump Mobile phone company, with plans to unveil a gold-colored smartphone and a cryptocurrency memecoin named $TRUMP.
That’s not to be confused with plans for a physical, government-issued Trump coin that U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach said the U.S. Mint is planning.
Trump has also reportedly told the owners of Washington’s NFL team that he would like his name on the Commanders’ new stadium. The team’s ownership group, which has the naming rights, has not commented on the idea. But a White House spokeswoman in November called the proposed name “beautiful” and said Trump made the rebuilding of the stadium possible.
The addition of Trump’s name to the Kennedy Center in December so outraged independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont that he introduced legislation this week to ban the naming or renaming of any federal building or land after a sitting president — a ban that would retroactively apply to the Kennedy Center and Institute of Peace.
“I think he is a narcissist who likes to see his name up there. If he owns a hotel, that’s his business,” Sanders said in an interview. “But he doesn’t own federal buildings.”
Sanders likened Trump's penchant for putting his name on government buildings and more to the actions of authoritarian leaders throughout history.
“If the American people want to name buildings after a president who is deceased, that’s fine. That’s what we do,” Sanders said. “But to use federal buildings to enhance your own position very much sounds like the ‘Great Leader’ mentality of North Korea, and that is not something that I think the American people want.”
Although some of the naming has been suggested by others, the president has made clear he’s pleased with the tributes.
Three months after the announcement of the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, a name the White House says was proposed by Armenian officials, the president gushed about it at a White House dinner.
“It’s such a beautiful thing, they named it after me. I really appreciate it. It’s actually a big deal,” he told a group of Central Asian leaders.
Engel, the presidential historian, said the practice can send a signal to people "that the easiest way to get access and favor from the president is to play to his ego and give him something or name something after him.”
Some of the proposals for honoring Trump include legislation in Congress from New York Republican Rep. Claudia Tenney that would designate June 14 as “Trump’s Birthday and Flag Day," placing the president with the likes of Martin Luther King Jr., George Washington and Jesus Christ, whose birthdays are recognized as national holidays.
Florida Republican Rep. Greg Steube has introduced legislation that calls for the Washington-area rapid transit system, known as the Metro, to be renamed the “Trump Train.” North Carolina Republican Rep. Addison McDowell has introduced legislation to rename Washington Dulles International Airport as Donald J. Trump International Airport.
McDowell said it makes sense to give Dulles a new name since Trump has already announced plans to revamp the airport, which currently is a tribute to former Secretary of State John Foster Dulles.
The congressman said he wanted to honor Trump because he feels the president has been a champion for combating the scourge of fentanyl, a personal issue for McDowell after his brother’s overdose death. But he also cited Trump’s efforts to strike peace deals all over the world and called him “one of the most consequential presidents ever.”
“I think that’s somebody that deserves to be honored, whether they’re still the president or whether they’re not," he said.
More efforts are underway in Florida, Trump’s adopted home.
Republican state lawmaker Meg Weinberger said she is working on an effort to rename Palm Beach International Airport as Donald J. Trump International Airport, a potential point of confusion with the Dulles effort.
The road that the president will see christened Friday is not the first Florida asphalt to herald Trump upon his return to the White House.
In the south Florida city of Hialeah, officials in December 2024 renamed a street there as President Donald J. Trump Avenue.
Trump, speaking at a Miami business conference the next month, called it a “great honor” and said he loved the mayor for it.
“Anybody that names a boulevard after me, I like,” he said.
He added a few moments later: “A lot of people come back from Hialeah, they say, ‘They just named a road after you.' I say, ‘That’s OK.’ It’s a beginning, right? It’s a start.”
FILE - A sign for the Rose Garden is seen near the Presidential Walk of Fame on the Colonnade at the White House, Jan. 13, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
FILE - President Donald Trump speaks with reporters as a flag pole is installed on the South Lawn of the White House, June 18, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
FILE - Workers add President Donald Trump's name to the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, after a Trump-appointed board voted to rename the institution, in Washington, Dec. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
FILE - A poster showing the Trump Gold Card is seen as President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House, Sept. 19, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, file)
