You are very right @storiesoferne, from the architectural point of view apparently it has very little to offer if we compare it with other great monuments and until the last moment I was in doubt whether to publish it or not in Architecture+Design Community.
But after thinking it through I came to the same reasoning that you have done, it has a cultural value that goes beyond the aesthetic and is fully identified with the Argentine cultural tradition.
I thank you for having interpreted it in the same way.
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
RE: [ENG/ESP] The popularity of the curious and original Mate Monument. / La popularidad del curioso y original Monumento al Mate.