Netherlands returns over 200 pre-Hispanic artifacts to Mexico

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – The Netherlands has returned 223 pre-Hispanic archaeological pieces to Mexico, Mexico’s foreign ministry said on Thursday, as it looks to recover more of its cultural heritage held in foreign collections.

The returns were the result of “active cooperation” between the two countries and showed a commitment to restore historical and cultural objects to their place of origin, the ministry said.

Mexico’s heritage institute INAH said the objects dated to between 400 BC and the 16th century, and had belonged to various pre-Hispanic cultures from both Pacific and Atlantic coasts as well as the central highlands.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s administration has a campaign called “My patrimony is not for sale” aimed at bringing back to Mexico what it calls looted pieces.

The INAH this week denounced a Paris auction that included Mexican objects valued in the thousands or tens of thousands of euros.

Last month, neighboring Guatemala seized some 1,200 Mayan objects found at the house of two U.S. citizens as part of its investigations into crimes against cultural heritage.

The Netherlands this year returned a collection of 343 pre-Hispanic era ceramics to Panama.

Culture ministers from around the world have pledged to boost efforts to return stolen and illegally traded artifacts to countries of origin. Many are in European museums or private collections.

(Reporting by Valentine Hilaire; Editing by Sarah Morland, Robert Birsel)