Foreign Relations achieves the return of 223 archaeological pieces from the Netherlands

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) headed by Marcelo Ebrard Casaubon delivered today to the federal Ministry of Culture, through the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), 223 archaeological pieces recovered by the Embassy of Mexico in the Netherlands. The pieces are part of the archaeological heritage of Mexico in accordance with the Federal Law on Monuments and Archaeological, Artistic and Historical Zones, said the Foreign Ministry.

The opinion, carried out by INAH specialists, confirms that these are pre-Hispanic pieces belonging to different cultures, coming from the west, the Central Highlands, the Gulf of Mexico and the southeast region. Its elaboration goes from the Mesoamerican Preclassic period (1200 BC-400 BC) to the Postclassic (800 AD-1521 AD).

At the award ceremony, the Director General for Europe of the Foreign Ministry, Bernardo Aguilar Calvo, expressed the profound gratitude of the Government of Mexico for this act of collaboration and friendship to the deputy ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Mexico, Anne Le Guellec. .

Likewise, the SRE’s legal consultant, Salvador Tinajero Esquivel, commented on the invaluable support given by the government of the Netherlands to combat the illicit trafficking of archaeological and cultural objects, in addition to the measures that must be adopted to prohibit and prevent the importation, export and illicit transfers of cultural property.

In turn, Deputy Ambassador Anne Le Guellec referred to the positive trend in international practices that address the restitution of cultural and heritage objects to their communities of origin, based on respect, ethics, and the protection of their legitimate human rights. .

The restitution of these movable assets is a sample of the active cooperation between the Government of Mexico and the Kingdom of the Netherlands in terms of protection of cultural assets, as well as a commitment to return historical and cultural legacies to their places of origin.

The authorities of both countries did not give details about the possession of these cultural assets in that country, nor since when or under what circumstances they would have left the national territory.

The repatriated goods are already under the protection of the INAH for their due analysis, care, conservation and dissemination; They are testimonies of the peoples who made and used them.

The Government of Mexico reaffirms its commitment to actively participate in the protection of cultural heritage around the world and to follow up on the efforts made to combat the illicit trafficking of cultural property and the repatriation of pieces that are national heritage and that are found illegally. illegal abroad.