PMarione
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Joined: 26 Mar 2007
Posts: 883
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 Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2012 6:17 pm Post subject: |
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By CARLA SALAZAR and FRANK BAJAK Associated Press
LIMA, Peru March 13, 2012 (AP)
We were robbed! That's how many Peruvians feel, now that U.S. courts have
given Spain the 17 tons of silver and gold coins that a private company
salvaged from the wreck of a colonial-era Spanish sailing ship.
The treasure's origin is not in dispute. The metals were mined and the coins
minted in the Andes. The Spanish navy frigate that was carrying them to
Spain exploded during an attack by British warships in 1804.
Peru argued it should get the precious metal recovered from the Nuestra
Senora de Las Mercedes. But its legal case was sunk in large part by a
historical fact: This country was, at the time, a Spanish dependency. It
didn't gain independence until 1821, the last bastion of Spanish rule in
South America.
"It is uncontested that the Mercedes is the property of Spain," a
three-judge U.S. appeals court ruled in September.
Many Peruvians, however, feel they are entitled to the booty because of
colonial Spain's violent, exploitative legacy. Countless natives of the
Andes were forced to abandon home and family and toil in life-choking
conditions extracting ore underground.
"Spain's progenitors were genocidal to our progenitors, the indigenous of
Peru, thousands if not millions of whom died in underground mines going
after that metal," said Rodolfo Rojas Villanueva, an activist with the
eco-cultural movement Patria Verde.
Other Peruvians would be happy to get a share of the 594,000 coins, whose
value has been estimated at $500 million, not so much as reparations but
because they are Peru's heritage.
Spanish officials flatly reject any Peruvian claim.
Spain's culture minister, Jose Ignacio Wert, received the treasure with
considerable fanfare Feb. 27 after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a bid by
Peru to halt the shipment. Wert said U.S. courts were clear: "The legacy of
the Mercedes belongs to Spain." |
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