Quimbaya treasure must return to Colombia

Quimbaya treasure must return to Colombia

The Constitutional Court decided that the 122 pieces that Colombia gave 124 years ago to the Kingdom of Spain must return to the country. The Court decided to order the President of the Republic to do everything in his power to recover what the country should never give away. The magistrate who drafted the sentence explained that there were more than 15 international examples that demonstrated how repatriation processes have been carried out in situations similar to those in Colombia. One of the emblematic cases is that of Machu Picchu in Peru. 100 years ago, several archaeological pieces left that country and rested for almost a century at the University of Yale (United States). Between 2004 and 2014, in the midst of a rigorous process of repatriation of goods, the Peruvian state received from Yale at least 46,000 pieces and Inca archaeological fragments, and to this day, there are another 40 open processes to recover other objects of heritage .
The Government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who will have to propose the way so that, through the diplomatic channel first, and later through the legal resources, the quimbaya treasure will return to Colombia.