Ken Salazar, the U.S. ambassador to Mexico, was front and center at a ceremony this week marking the return from the United States of an important colonial art relic that was stolen in 2002 from the Parrish of Santiago Apóstol in Jiutepec, Morelos.
The statue of San Antonio de Padua was returned largely thanks to the campaign started by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, known as MiPatrimonioNoSeVende (My Heritage is Not For Sale), that aims to recover the country’s historical and cultural heritage.
According to the Mexican government, since 2018, around 9,000 pieces that were illegally taken abroad have been returned.
The program encourages the “voluntary repatriation of objects,” but also resorts to legal methods if required.
Another way of recovering abducted heritage is to persuade auction houses abroad to cancel sales involving Mexican artifacts. Recently, Belgian authorities returned three archaeological statues slated for auction at Casa Carlo Bonte, one of Brussels’ leading houses.
Earlier this year, in Stockholm, a pair of 2,000-year-old ceramic statuettes that had been used to advertise the Mexican liquor Kahlúa, owned by the Swedish company Absolut Vodka, were recovered after being found stored in a warehouse.
Other attempts at recuperating lost heritage have fallen on deaf ears. Mexican First Lady Beatriz Gutiérrez Müller has tried in vain to persuade Austrian authorities to return the headdress (penacho) believed to have been used by Aztec Emperor Moctezuma, which is showcased in a Viennese museum.