Cuzco Forum: Latin America and the Caribbean Celebrates 50 Years of the 1970 Convention
Cuzco Forum: Latin America and the Caribbean celebrate 50 years of the 1970 Convention. As part of the celebrations, UNESCO organized in collaboration with the Peruvian government, the “Cuzco Forum: Regional technical dialogue on the future of international cooperation in the fight against illicit trafficking in cultural property” for the Latin America and the Caribbean region, on 1 and 8 October 2020.
This first dialogue, organized at regional level, was chaired by Leslie Urteaga, Vice-Minister of Cultural Heritage and Cultural Industries of Peru. During his opening speech, Mr Ernesto Ottone R., UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Culture, recalled that “over the past decades, we have seen an exponential increase in illicit traffic of cultural goods. It is a sad reality that affects all regions of the world, including Latin America and the Caribbean. We have a duty to protect the values of the past, which are essential for the societies of today and tomorrow”.
Experts from 15 Member States from the Latin American and Caribbean region, as well as professionals in the cultural heritage and judicial system gave presentations on the issue of illicit trafficking in cultural property, illegal excavations and online trade during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through their experienced methods of preventing and monitoring illicit trafficking in cultural goods, the experts proposed joint actions between customs and government authorities. This first session thus made it possible to strengthen cooperation between the countries of the region based on their current regimes; it also gave consideration to the challenges and future prospects of national action and cooperation between countries.
The second session on 8 October brought together several countries from the Latin American and Caribbean region such as Argentina, Brazil, Peru and Mexico, but also Egypt, Spain, France and the 'Italy (as Observers). Complementary to the first dialogue, this session focused on the technical means allowing the strengthening of the implementation of the 1970 Convention, its effectiveness and its visibility in its legal, political and operational aspects. Dedicated to an exchange on the means of improving the current systems and mechanisms of fight against the illicit trafficking of cultural goods, the second session sought to gather the points of view of the countries exporting and importing these trafficked goods. The need for strengthening the tools needed to fight illicit trafficking was stressed, namely, digital inventories of collections and databases of stolen works of art. Also discussed was the preparation of an expert meeting scheduled for 2021, which will propose a draft Model Provisions on the prevention and fight against illicit trafficking in cultural property for the region.
At the end of this Forum, the Peruvian government will prepare a joint report as a contribution to the International Conference in Berlin, Germany, “Cultural Heritage and Multilateralism: Regional and International Strategies for the Protection of Cultural Heritage”, to be held from 16 to 18 November 2020 to commemorate the anniversary of the UNESCO 1970 Convention.