Mexico City, Mexico — The Italian government has returned 101 archaeological pieces belonging to the national cultural heritage to Mexico. The pieces were return during a recent ceremony headed by the Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs, María Teresa Mercado Pérez.
Mercado Pérez traveled to Rome with representatives of Foreign Minister Juan Ramón de la Fuente and authorities from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), a department of the Ministry of Culture of the Government of Mexico.
Most of the pieces correspond to anthropomorphic figures. They were confiscated by the Carabinieri in Rome, Perugia, Udine, Ancona and Cosenza
The return took place at the Mexican Embassy in the Italian capita with the presence of the Mexican ambassador to Italy, Carlos García de Alba and he Undersecretary of State for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy, Giorgio Silli, among others.
Undersecretary Mercado Pérez highlighted the symbolic meaning of the ceremony as it reflects the excellent state of the bilateral relationship between Mexico and Italy. She also expressed the gratitude of the Government of Mexico to the Italian authorities for the significant and numerous restitution of pieces.
Giorgio Silli also expressed his satisfaction with the cooperation in this area and stressed his country’s conviction that this heritage is integral to the identity of nations such as Italy and Mexico, cultural powers with a rich shared history.
Through a virtual link, the General Director of INAH, Diego Prieto Hernández, offered details about the set of 101 archaeological pieces. He reported that they were seized in the cities of Rome, Perugia, Udine, Ancona and Cosenza.
He added that bilateral cooperation also includes the training of specialized personnel in the Mexican National Guard, based on the model of the Carabineros, to act against the plundering and trafficking of property.
“Most of them are anthropomorphic figures, which shows the enormous value that our ancestors gave to the human body, although there are also decorative elements and objects of daily use.
“They come from various regions of Mesoamerica and their temporalities cover a horizon that starts in the year 900 before our era, and reaches up to the moments closest to the Spanish occupation of the current Mexican territory, in the 16th century,” he explained.
Since 2018, thanks to bilateral cooperation, Mexico has achieved the restitution of almost 800 archaeological pieces confiscated by Italian security forces.
