August 13, 2007 [LINK / comment]

U.S. to return Peru's antiquities

One of the things that most infuriates Latin Americans about gringos is the way many of our archeologists have made off with their ancient pre-Columbian artifacts. They weren't necessarily stolen, but they were often obtained in a hasty, unregulated manner. I recall a group of students complaining about that when I was visiting Copan, Honduras 18 years ago. During a visit to Peru by U.S. Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy Karen Hughes, it was announced that Yale University will cooperate in belatedly returning many of the ancient relics in its museums to their country of origin. Such a gesture is bound to improve U.S.-Peruvian relations, and is to be commended. See CNN.com.