Mexico drafts a Protocol for the Repatriation and Recovery of Cultural Goods, led by INAH with UNESCO support

7 November 2026

Mexico is preparing a national instrument it calls the Protocol for the Repatriation and Recovery of Cultural Goods. The work is led by the Ministry of Culture through the National Institute of Anthropology and History, with help from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and UNESCO. A second drafting workshop was held on 4 November at the National Museum of History in Chapultepec Castle, Mexico City. Officers from the Institute's centres in seven northern states took part, along with staff of the Foreign Ministry and UNESCO. The draft sets out the legal basis for such claims, a public register of cultural property, the steps officials must take, how recovered pieces are kept safe and where they finally go. It will apply when the Institute learns of possibly Mexican cultural objects abroad, including in sales, auctions, seizures and confiscations. The Institute's Technical Secretary José Luis Perea González said the protocol lays the groundwork for a wider policy on repatriation and restitution.