Wednesday, October 9, 2024

Mexico repatriated over 14,000 archaeological artifacts during AMLO’s term

Mexico repatriated 14,048 archaeological artifacts considered to be part of the country’s national heritage during President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s six-year term, set to end on September 30.

“The recovery of historical memory, as well as the recognition of Mexico’s cultural roots, is a joint effort between various institutions of the federal government to dignify national history, cultural heritage, Indigenous peoples and the legacy of heroes and heroines,” the Culture Minister Alejandra Frausto Guerrero said at a press conference on Monday.

According to Culture Minister Alejandra Frausto, Mexico's #MiPatrimonioNoSeVende campaign brought the issue of illicit trafficking of cultural property to the global stage.
According to Culture Minister Alejandra Frausto, Mexico’s #MiPatrimonioNoSeVende campaign brought the issue of illicit trafficking of cultural property to the global stage. (@cultura_mx/X)

Frausto lauded the #MiPatrimonioNoSeVende (#Don’tTouchMyHeritage) campaign, launched in 2021 to establish new protocols and legal strategies to repatriate items illegally taken from Mexico.

According to Frausto, this initiative brought the issue of illicit trafficking of cultural property to the global stage. As a result, the UNESCO World Conference on Cultural Policies and Sustainable Development (Mondiacult), held in Mexico City in 2022, agreed to strengthen its “advocacy and action concerning the impact of illicit trafficking on the memory, identity and future of peoples.” 

At the press conference, the Culture Ministry showed a video reporting that the National Archives has secured 75 batches of stolen historical documents and repatriated more than 19. These efforts led to the cancellation of pending sales and the voluntary return of some items, the video explained. 

Some of the most significant recoveries include three codices created by Indigenous scribes between 400 and 450 years ago and which contain valuable details about the history of Mexico. The finding was described as “extraordinary” by María Castañeda de la Paz, a researcher with the Anthropological Research Institute of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). “It is as if a Rembrandt or a Velázquez emerged today,” Castañeda de la Paz said.

Llega "El Portal del Inframundo" a Cuernavaca para su exhibición

Another remarkable recovery is “Gateway to the Underworld” (Portal del Inframundo), one of Mexico’s most sought-after artifacts of Olmec culture. It arrived in Mexico last year after it was stolen from the country “under mysterious circumstances” more than 50 years ago. The piece is now exhibited at the Regional Museum of the Peoples of Morelos in the colonial-era Cortés Palace.   

Illicitly traded cultural property is often sold either in illegal markets around the world or through legal avenues like public auctions, including online. Many of the artifacts that Mexico has recovered are thanks to a federal government task force created in 2023 that works with local authorities abroad to seek judicial redress and halt auctions in New York, Paris and Rome. The task force also negotiates with academic institutions and museums to recover archaeological artifacts. 

Thanks to Mexico’s efforts, countries like Guatemala, Honduras, Peru and Colombia have joined the #MiPatrimonioNoSeVende campaign as they also try to recover heritage that is illegally sold in foreign countries.

Mexico News Daily

Have something to say? Paid Subscribers get all access to make & read comments.
XER radio station, a border blaster

Border blasters: The outlaw stations that changed radio

12
From quack doctors to the first country music broadcasts, high-powered Mexican radio stations brought the U.S. into the age of mass culture.
Cover of Perras de Reserva, which was translated into English as Reservoir Bitches

In ‘Reservoir Bitches,’ Dahlia de la Cerda narrates the raw reality of being a woman in Mexico

0
The feminist movement has permeated Mexican life, and Dahlia de la Cerda's "Reservoir Bitches" proves that literature is no exception.
Two Baja California cowboys on horses

The wild cowboys of Baja California

6
Cowboys were crucial in making Baja California the place we know today — and they're still around.