The National Guard stopped the works, INAH denounced the mayor, but federal authorities were careless and municipal workers continued working damaging Cultural Heritage.
(Excelsior).- Agents of the National Guard had to arrest workers from the Municipal Government of San Miguel de Allende for destroying their cultural heritage. But, it was useless because they continued working during the night, and modified a section of Juárez Street in the Historical Center that is part of the Polygon declared by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
On Wednesday, August 24th, the National Institute of Anthropology and History -INAH-, called the National Guard to stop the work ordered by Mayor Mauricio Trejo Pureco, who intends to prevent the tourist service trams from stopping and giving service, permit endorsed by the Court of Administrative Justice of the State of Guanajuato.
The INAH delegate in Guanajuato, Olga Adriana Hernández Flores, asserted that what the Government of San Miguel de Allende did is a federal crime since the Historic Center polygon is protected by the Federal Law on Monuments and Archaeological, Historical, Artistic and Cultural Zones.
“They began to operate without a license, without giving notice to the INAH. The work was suspended, the workers were told to leave, and the work was left alone. But after an hour, more workers came back. I think they brought more people because they wanted to finish today”, Hernández Flores declared.
The federal official lamented the attitude of Mayor Trejo Pureco and added that given what happened, the INAH reported the crime to the Federal Public Ministry.
“We requested the presence of the Municipal Police of San Miguel de Allende, so that they could remove the workers because they were committing a crime. Besides, they violated the seals, because the personnel of the Municipal Presidency broke them. Another crime was not complying with a federal order, issued by the Directorate of the INAH Guanajuato Center, and the last one is to damage the historic heritage of San Miguel de Allende,” declared the INAH delegate in Guanajuato
Olga Hernández Flores explained that the Government of San Miguel de Allende is violating article 52 of the Federal Law on Archaeological, Artistic and Historical Monuments and Zones: “Anyone who by any means damages, alters or destroys an archaeological, artistic or historical monument, will be imposed with three to ten years in prison, and a fine up to the value of the damage caused.”
The pavement on Juárez Street and the sidewalk next to the Temple of San Francisco were completely shattered.
In contrast, the Mayor of San Miguel de Allende, Mauricio Trejo Pureco, launched a message through his Facebook account, excusing that the work on Juárez Street is due to giving spaces to the disabled.
The Federal Representative, Ricardo Villarreal García, a native of San Miguel de Allende, criticized Mayor, Trejo Pureco warning that he puts at risk the declaration of World Heritage that UNESCO granted to the Guanajuato destination.
San Miguel Times
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