New York authorities returned a 16th-century manuscript known as the Hernandarias Manuscript to Paraguay after it was stolen from the country's National Archive over a decade ago and resurfaced at a Manhattan auction in 2013, ABC Color reported.
"I am delighted that, for the first time, we can return a stolen object to the people of Paraguay," said Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, according to La Nación Paraguay. "I thank the team of prosecutors, investigators, and analysts for unraveling this theft and achieving the return of this manuscript to the National Archives of Paraguay."
"The return of this historic manuscript is a gesture of friendship and respect between our nations," said Fabiola Torres Figueredo, the Consul General of Paraguay in New York, according to Expreso. "It symbolizes our common commitment to the conservation of cultural heritage and historical memory."
The manuscript, consisting of 13 handwritten pages, was written, signed, and dated December 12, 1598, by Hernando Arias de Saavedra, the first Creole to hold a governing position in the Spanish viceroyalties of America. It details the laws that governed the daily life of the indigenous population of the Spanish colony and is considered an important precursor to the abolition by Hernandarias in 1603 of the punitive encomienda system.
Hernando Arias de Saavedra was a key figure in early colonial history, known for his efforts to reform the encomienda system—a form of slavery that allowed Spanish colonists to demand tributes and forced labor from indigenous peoples.
The Hernandarias Manuscript had been part of Paraguay's National Archive since at least 1870 until it was stolen over a decade ago. In 2013, it surfaced at an auction in Manhattan, where it was purchased by a rare book dealer. After receiving a notice in January from Paraguayan consular authorities in New York, the Antiquities Trafficking Unit of the Manhattan District Attorney's Office recovered the manuscript in early April.
"The restitution of the Hernandarias Manuscript represents an important advance in Paraguay's efforts to protect and recover its cultural heritage and reinforces inter-institutional cooperation to combat the illicit trafficking of cultural goods," the National Secretariat of Culture stated, according to Expreso. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also confirmed its participation in the recovery, alongside the National Secretariat of Culture and the National Archive of Paraguay.
Since its creation in 2017, the Antiquities Trafficking Unit has recovered more than 6,000 antiquities valued at over $465 million. This marks the first repatriation of a stolen object that the unit has carried out to Paraguay. Investigations by the unit have allowed the recovery and return of about 5,500 pieces of cultural heritage of illegal origin to 30 countries.
"The manuscript was recovered earlier this month by the Antiquities Trafficking Unit of the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. Currently, it remains under custody at the Paraguayan consulate in New York City, and its return to Paraguay is in process," stated the National Secretariat of Culture in another note.
The article was written with the assistance of a news analysis system.
