Mexico City
AP
–
Nearly five centuries after Spanish conqueror Hernan Cortez signed, decades after someone swiped from Mexico’s National Archives, the FBI returned valuable manuscript pages to Mexico on Wednesday.
In a statement, the FBI said that the document has changed hands over many eras over the years so no one will be charged.
“This is an original manuscript page actually signed by Hernán Cortés on February 20, 1527,” said Special Agent Jessica Dittmer, a member of the FBI’s Arts Crime Team. By then, Cortez had conquered the Aztec Empire in 1521, two years after landing in what is now Mexico.
A popular archive archivists in Mexico were microfilming a collection of documents signed by Cortez in 1993, but found that a 15-page manuscript was missing. They believe it was stolen between 1985 and 1993.
Mexico sought help from the FBI’s art crime team last year for this particular page.
The FBI eventually narrowed its search to the US and found the documents, but the agency didn’t say who had it. The New York City Police Department, the US Department of Justice and the Mexican government were all involved in the investigation.
This is the second Corte document that the FBI has returned to the Mexican government. In 2023, the agency returned a 16th century letter from Cortez.
“This is something Mexicans have in the archives with the purpose of a better understanding of history, as these works are considered protected cultural assets and represent precious moments in Mexican history,” she said.
