Art, historically-significant furniture, household goods and bedding are among the items missing from Los Pinos, the former official residence of the Mexican president.
Government sources told the news website Sin Embargo that the list of missing items could grow even longer as a review of the enormous and opulent Mexico City residence and its grounds continues.
Located in the Chapultepec Forest, Los Pinos was home to every Mexican president since Lázaro Cárdenas took office in 1934 but President López Obrador has instead opened its doors to the public as a cultural center.
Among the household items that can’t be located is a set of spoons that dates back to the presidency of Porfirio Díaz, a source said, adding “they [former President Enrique Peña Nieto and his family] didn’t leave pillows, comforters or sheets . . . maybe some of them were theirs but not all of them.”
A group of artists who completed paintings on commission for then-president Carlos Salinas 25 years ago sent a letter to authorities asking about the whereabouts of their work, the same source said.
However, other government sources said that the missing items aren’t “necessarily lost.”
Authorities of the new government, which took office on December 1, are currently trying to locate the absent artworks and other articles, they explained.
There is a legal obligation for the office of the outgoing president to report what items remain in Los Pinos and what has been taken but according to a Sin Embargo source “no inventory has been found.”
Past presidents including Vicente Fox and Felipe Calderón have returned paintings hung at Los Pinos during their presidency to public art galleries but it is not yet clear whether Peña Nieto did the same.
Since the former presidential residence opened to the public on the day of López Obrador’s inauguration, thousands of people have flocked to see where their past 14 presidents lived.
Last week, a special screening of the new Mexican film Roma was held on the grounds of Los Pinos, with more than 3,000 in attendance.
Source: Sin Embargo (sp)
