To systematize and identify the best processes for handling cases of repatriation, recovery, or return of cultural property, the Ministry of Culture of the Government of Mexico, through the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), continues to strengthen capacities and hold workshops to develop an instrument on the matter, with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) and UNESCO.
On 4 November 2026, the second workshop to draft the “Protocol for the Repatriation and Recovery of Cultural Goods” took place at the National Museum of History in Chapultepec Castle, Mexico City. It brought together specialist officers from INAH, its Centres in Baja California, Baja California Sur, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León and Tamaulipas, as well as from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and UNESCO.
José Luis Perea González, Technical Secretary of INAH, noted that defending and preserving cultural heritage, and strategies against the illicit trafficking of cultural goods, require close collaboration to establish global protocols for protection and repatriation.
He stressed that this instrument lays the groundwork for a policy proposal on the repatriation, recovery, and restitution of cultural heritage. It also brings the Institute closer to the cultural rights goals of Indigenous and Afro-Mexican Peoples, who, through spaces such as community museums and churches, strive for the recognition and conservation of their own heritage.
INAH’s Director of World Heritage, Francisco Vidargas Acosta, said the protocol is a living document that will be updated as challenges and contexts evolve, and in line with international regulations.
Carlos Tejada, National Officer for Culture at UNESCO in Mexico, welcomed Mexico’s work on a clearly defined State policy to eradicate the illicit trafficking of cultural goods, as this is one of the most important issues in international cooperation, as highlighted at the UNESCO World Conference on Cultural Policies and Sustainable Development (MONDIACULT), in the Pact for the Future and in the G20 outcome documents.
During the session, participants worked on the document, which covers, among other areas: the current legal and regulatory framework, strategies and guidelines for action, a general course of action, the public registry of cultural property, follow-up, safekeeping and final destination.
Aprevious workshop on binational cooperation, held on 26 and 27 June 2025 in Sonora, allowed the exchange of strategies focused on the INAH Centres along Mexico’s northern border.
The instrument will address cases in which INAH learns of cultural goods of possible Mexican origin located abroad, as well as cases requiring its intervention for identification, analysis, documentation, management, receipt, safekeeping, or follow-up. This includes sales, auctions, precautionary seizures, forfeitures, confiscations, and other situations that may call for coordinated institutional action.
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This article is related to the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.
SDG 16 – Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
