Luis Alemany
Updated Saturday, April 6, 2024-01:24
Interview "There are already cases like Odyssey that are being repeated, that have not stopped repeating"
Heritage "The impunity of Odyssey responds to Spain's obsession with the shared sovereignty of Gibraltar"
Sixth day of April, the month in which the Government of Colombia plans to send the ship of its Navy
ARC Caribe
to carry out surveys and extractions on the remains of the galleon
San José
, sunk by English warships in 1708, near the coast of Barú, in northern Colombia. On its last voyage, the
San José
transported an immense cargo to Spain: American jewelry, Chinese porcelain from the Qing dynasty and
tons of carved silver and coins that Colombia claims as its own
after the discovery of the remains of the galleon in 2015 by treasure hunters. hired by that country.
Since then, Spain and part of Colombian civil society have been able to paralyze these extractive projects so that no one exploits the ship's treasures and that its value as an archaeological site and its dignity as a cemetery is respected. The
San José
, it is argued, was a state ship and enjoys sovereign immunity. The legitimate owner of it is not an extinct private company, but the Kingdom of Spain,
the same State that has had legal continuity since 1708 and represents the same nation
. Its legal protection would also allow hundreds of historical ship sites from the Carrera de Indias to be defended.
To know more
Culture.
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Editor: LUIS ALEMANY Madrid
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Editor: LUIS ALEMANY Madrid
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Gustavo Petro
, president of Colombia since summer 2022, announced last year his intention to withdraw from diplomatic negotiations and international legal disputes and to begin prospecting. In Spain, the most visible initiative to stop this policy has moved to civil society. José María Lancho, one of the lawyers who accompanied the Government in
its litigation against the Odyssey treasure hunters
for the remains of the frigate
Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes
, was hired by three First Nations of Bolivia, Killakas, Carangas and Chichas. Together they demand from Colombia and Spain their right to co-decide the future of
San José
. Because? Because part of the treasure of the Spanish ship comes from its territory and
was extracted from the mines by the population they represent today
, under forced and unequal conditions to those of the other subjects of the then Kingdom of Castile.
«We have the right to be heard and to participate in decisions that directly affect a part of our culture and history. Defending that the remains of the galleon remain only cultural
is part of our resistance as peoples
. We do not want them to be sold, nor do we want them to serve to facilitate the looting of other historic ships of the Race of the Indies," the representatives of the Nations explain to EL MUNDO. Tata Reinaldo Quispe (Caranga Nation), Tata Hilarión Mejía (Chicha Nation) and Tata Bernardino Colque (Killaka Nation).
Scientific surveys on the wreck of the 'San José'.
And it is so "for many reasons, the fact that much of its content was extracted from our soil with so much pain is why the remains of those ships are also part of our ancestral territory.
They contain roots of our memory, the testimony of generations of our ancestors
who forcibly extracted, transformed and shaped much of the content of those sites. For us it has a spiritual and also sacred element in the same way that a cemetery should be sacred for Spaniards or Colombians. Those galleons are.
"Colombia would commit a serious plunder
, a brutal act of colonialism if the galleon intervenes without our consent."
An explanation: the First Nations of Bolivia have recognized historical identity (by Spain since the 16th century) and collective rights over their cultural heritage under numerous international instruments that grant them
international legal personality
. Colombia also mentions 102 indigenous communities in its constitution.
What does your proposal for
San José
consist of ? «Like the rest of the sunken galleons of the Carrera de Indias, [it should be] considered common and shared heritage. Of the native peoples, of Spain and the American republics. [We hope] that international law will be applied accordingly, not just that of one of the parties. We wish to actively participate in the process through our traditional authorities and
for the findings to also be exhibited in our land
for the enjoyment of all. Maybe with a museum in Potosí. "We also ask that the knowledge and science generated by these remains will benefit the well-being of our people."
Juan Revollo, representative of the Killakasm Nation, Quechua philologist and linguist, explains that, although there is already access to university for young people from indigenous nations, an
important cooperation effort
is still necessary to level the educational opportunities available to other groups. .
One of the keys to the
San José
case is also included in the response of the Indigenous Peoples .
The Republic of Colombia has never signed the main international agreements on Underwater Heritage
, so the Petro Government considers that it is legitimate to make its decisions only in accordance with its law. However, as lawyer Lancho refers, "even without ratifying specific treaties, Colombia, as a member of the UN, has the general duty to abide by the principles of customary international law.
The immunity of sunken warships is firmly established in international custom. from the sea and forces Colombia
."
Furthermore, "Colombia and Spain have signed the International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of the United Nations as well as the International Covenants and UN Declaration on Indigenous Peoples that
allow my clients to be party to this controversy that affects them
."
"What we fear most is that our presence and knowledge will be ignored, once again denying us recognition as peoples with their own identity," they add from Bolivia. "That decisions be made
unilaterally without our will
and without taking into account the effect they will have on the rest of the assets in the waters of Colombia and the rest of the American countries. If President Petro decides to corner international law, family law of the nations to make the galleon only from Colombia, he knows the fate of the rest of the galleons sunk in the waters of Colombia and the rest of America,
he knows that they will be prey for the treasure-hunting industries
.
Once again, the declaration of the First Nations finds a hidden key: since 2015, the Government of Colombia has signed successive contracts with treasure hunting companies to share the loot of the
San José
. In February, the Petro Executive organized a scientific conference in Cartagena de Indias that ended with a call and a commitment, more symbolic than formal, not to economically exploit the wreck. The extractions, it was said then, would have a scientific purpose. Lancho is skeptical: "
What happens to the other sunken deposits in Colombia?
The 2013 Colombian law that encourages treasure hunting would apply to them. What will happen to the rest of the deposits in waters around the world if the sovereign immunity?"
The fear expressed by the Indigenous Nations is that this waiver is the exception to a fatal general rule: that it serves as a precedent where the waiver of sovereign immunity allows the treasure hunting industry to proceed on deposits in all oceans. The Nations are asking UNESCO for something that the Kingdom of Spain has not yet asked for:
that the wrecks of sunken ships be included by the World Heritage Committee
in the Inventory of Cultural Assets in Danger.