New Federal Police Division Created to Protect Mexico’s Cultural Heritage Deutsche Welle
go to original September 1, 2017

Mexico's National Gendarmerie has a new mission: to protect the country's cultural heritage. But their influence over the 440,000 often ineffective and corrupt regional and state police officers is limited.

The head of the National Gendarmerie, Benjamin Grajeda Regalado, told Mexico's El Universal newspaper that the new division of the Federal Police would recruit officers with knowledge of archaeology and art to tackle thefts and looting of cultural artifacts.

Grajeda said they were seeking to "contribute to [efforts] to preserve and guarantee the security of [Mexico's] heritage." The training of officers is being carried out with the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) and the National Institute of Fine Arts (INBA).

Mexico has been criticized for failing to register the theft of stolen cultural antiquities and for a lack of coordination among authorities responsible for preserving the items. Many church paintings are replicas of the two- and three-hundred year old paintings that have been stolen. According to official figures last year, 90 percent of stolen cultural objects, including archaeological pieces, liturgical objects and religious art, are never recovered.

Between 2003 and 2016, the INAH listed 4,757 stolen historical or archeological objects. Only 67 objects were recovered.

The inclusion of national heritage into the gendarmerie's remit is seen as a step towards improving coordination between different levels of government to restrict the theft and worldwide trafficking of art. A detailed record of Mexican artifacts of historical value, including sacred art, is yet to be completed.

Read the rest at Deutsche Welle

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