HomeNewsBriefUNESCO Praises Peru For Tackling Illicit Antiquities Trade
BRIEF

UNESCO Praises Peru For Tackling Illicit Antiquities Trade

PERU / 27 MAR 2014 BY MIMI YAGOUB EN

United Nations heritage body UNESCO has praised Peru's efforts in fighting the illegal trading of patrimonial artifacts, a crime that by nature is difficult to adequately address. 

Magaly Robalino Campos, the United Nations Educations Science and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) representative in Peru, told Agencia Andina that the international body recognized Peru's interdiction efforts on a "governmental level, in civil society and by local governments," adding that the country has a high awareness of cultural value.

The country has extensive legislation and measures to combat the practice, including the 2014 General Law on the Nation's Cultural Patrimony (pdf), the adoption of international conventions such as the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention (pdf) and a "Red List" of artifacts to help with the identification and protection of these items.

Peru has collaborated with both UNESCO and the Spanish Agency of International Development Cooperation (AECID), and has worked on various awareness campaigns within its borders.

InSight Crime Analysis

The extent of this type of trafficking in Peru is largely due to the wealth of its historical patrimony, which boasts priceless artifacts from the Pre-Columbian, Andean Baroque and Colonial periods.

SEE ALSO: Peru News and Profiles

Artifacts from Latin America are stolen or excavated -- often by the locals themselves -- from archaeological sites, churches and museums. Despite security efforts such as airport and border checks and inter-institutional cooperation, the objects consistently reach foreign markets, in which collectors will often turn a blind eye to obtain the highly sought after objects.

In other cases the artifacts are integrated into the legal trade and acquired by unwitting buyers, for example at auctions. This has at times provoked strong opposition from the countries of origin, as was the case when a controversial collection of pre-Columbian art was denounced as stolen by Peru, Mexico, Guatemala and Costa Rica. The artifacts in this collection were later sold at about $10 million less than their estimated worth.

In the past few decades, the trade in cultural artifacts has also been used for money laundering purposes by drugs and arms traffickers, according to Peru's Ministry of Culture.

The illegal international trade of patrimonial goods is reportedly worth $40 billion and Peru's ambassador to UNESCO, Manuel Rodriguez Cuadros, has claimed it is the biggest transnational crime after drugs and arms trafficking. Nonetheless, INTERPOL states that it is hard to determine any accurate figures, and it seems unlikely the trade is worth more than other criminal activities such as illegal mining.

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

COCAINE / 12 JAN 2023

Peru's largest seaport handles millions of tons of cargo annually, a fact that cocaine traffickers are using to their advantage.

ARMS TRAFFICKING / 24 AUG 2022

A new rule in the United States seeks to stem the flow of ghost guns, bought in parts online and…

ECUADOR / 14 FEB 2022

Peru has convicted a gang of shark fin traffickers for the first time in history but more is needed to…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Chemical Precursor Report continues to be a reference in the region

19 MAY 2023

For the second week in a row, our investigation into the flow of precursor chemicals for the manufacture of synthetic drugs in Mexico has been cited by multiple regional media…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime’s Chemical Precursor Report Widely Cited

THE ORGANIZATION / 12 MAY 2023

We are proud to see that our recently published investigation into the supply chain of chemical precursors feeding Mexico’s synthetic drug production has been warmly received.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime’s Paraguay Election Coverage Draws Attention 

5 MAY 2023

InSight Crime looked at the various anti-organized crime policies proposed by the candidates in Paraguay’s presidential election, which was won on April 30 by Santiago Peña. Our pre-election coverage was cited…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Cited in OAS, CARICOM Reports

28 APR 2023

This week, InSight Crime’s work was cited nine times in a new report by the Organization of American States (OAS) titled “The Impact of Organized Crime on Women,…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Staff Cited as Experts by International Media

21 APR 2023

This week, InSight Crime deputy editor, Juan Diego Posada, was interviewed by the Associated Press about connections between the ex-FARC mafia and Brazilian criminal groups, and…