Rome – Undersecretary Silli attends ceremony to return archaeological artefacts to the Mexican authorities

Italian Undersecretary of State Giorgio Silli took part today in the ceremony to return to the Mexican authorities about a hundred pre-Columbian archaeological artefacts seized in Italy by the Carabinieri Command for the Protection of Cultural Heritage. The ceremony was also attended by the Mexican Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs Maria Teresa Mercado Pérez, the Commander of the Carabinieri Command for the Protection of Cultural Heritage General Francesco Gargaro, and the Ambassador of Mexico to Italy.

"Today's event highlighted the many opportunities still available to deepen cooperation between Rome and Mexico City in the cultural sector," commented Silli, underlining that the ceremony was one of the events organised to celebrate the 150^th anniversary of bilateral relations between the two countries and provided further confirmation of their excellence, scope and dynamism.

Undersecretary Silli had already travelled to Mexico City in March 2023 to return to the Mexican authorities around forty pre-Columbian archaeological artefacts seized by the Italian Carabinieri. The cooperation between the Carabinieri Corps and the Mexican authorities in the field of cultural heritage protection is part of the 2012 Strategic Partnership and is consistent with the efforts to relaunch relations between Italy, Latin America and the Caribbean.

"Italy, like Mexico, strongly believes that Cultural Heritage is a fundamental part of a nation's identity. A country needs to know and protect its past to be able to look to the future with ambition" concluded Undersecretary Silli.