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Peru and other Latin American countries criticize the sale of pre-Hispanic goods in France

Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and Peru expressed their collective rejection of the sale of pre-Hispanic cultural assets in France and invited those who have such works of their countries in their possession to return them.

Those five countries stressed, in a statement provided by the Mexican embassy, ​​that these transactions promote “looting, looting, illicit trafficking and the laundering of assets perpetrated by transnational organized crime.”

Specifically, this sale “goes against modern archeology by encouraging illegal excavations to extract objects and prevent them from being investigated, thus hindering knowledge about ancient civilizations.”

These types of operations, they stressed in their note, deprive “the stolen pieces of their cultural, historical and symbolic essence, reducing them to simple objects of decoration of individuals.”

“The decontextualization promoted by sales is an attack on the heritage of humanity. It undermines cooperation between States for the protection and conservation of cultural heritage. It undermines the integrity of cultures and, therefore, of all humanity ”, they added.

Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and Peru They said they were aware that “in the legal framework that regulates the sales and auctions of cultural property in France, the restitution of the pieces depends on the will of the private owner”, which limits their capacity for action.

“However, we are open to collaborate towards concrete measures for the protection of pre-Hispanic cultural heritage. We face a great challenge, but the signatory countries will not give up in promoting actions to stop the commercialization of goods that – according to each legislation – belong to their respective States ”, they concluded.

His statement was released on the eve of Christie’s holding the auction “Pre-Columbian Art and Taino Masterpieces from the Fiore Art Collection.”

On November 2, another public sale in that case in Artcurial, “Arqueología, Arte de Oriente y Arte Precolombino”, closed with a result of 797,634 euros (about US $ 923,820).

Mexico had then expressed its “deep concern” about both auctions, and sent a note to the French government to complain. He also demanded that the presidents of the two auction houses cancel the operations, but his request was not honored.

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