Photo: FBI Boston
BOSTON (WBZNewsRadio) - A letter signed by Spanish conquistador, Hernán Cortés, has been returned to the government of Mexico with the help of the FBI Boston Division.
"We are incredibly honored to be able to assist in the return of this national treasure to the people of Mexico," said Christopher DiMenna, acting special agent in charge of the FBI Boston Division. "This manuscript, which is nearly five centuries old, preserves an important part of Mexico’s history and reflects the FBI’s ongoing commitment to protect cultural heritage, not only in the United States but around the world. The recovery of this priceless artifact is a direct result of our close and ongoing collaboration with the government of Mexico, and we are very thankful for their partnership.”
The historical manuscript dates back to April 1527 and carries the signature of Cortés, who led a large-scale expedition from Spain to Mexico.
Supervisory Special Agent Kristin Koch, who manages the FBI's Art Crime Program said the document itself is a payment order, authorizing the purchase of rise sugar for 12 gold pesos. The letter had been in the care of Mexico's national archives until sometime in the late '80s or early '90s, when the institution fell victim to looters.
Flash forward to 2022, when the letter was discovered at a Massachusetts-based auction house and caught the eye of a representative of Mexico's national archives. Agent Koch said the details of the documents journey from Mexico's national archives to an auction block based out of Boston, are murky.
"But we do know that it ended up in an auction house in California in the early '90s, and it moved through several different hands until it reached the person that cosigned it to the auction house in Massachusetts." Koch said.
The letter then had to be authenticated and was done so through what Koch called a "mutual legal assistance treaty process," and said the Mexican government provided official documentation, including the specific dimensions and the exact verbiage within it's text.
“That gave us enough probable cause to obtain a seizure warrant to take the document from the auction house and bring it into our custody,” Koch said.
From left to right: FBI Supervisory Special Agent Angel Catalan of Legat Mexico City; U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar; Dr. Carlos Enrique Ruiz Abreu, director general del Archivo General de la Nación; Lic. Miguel Ángel Méndez Buenos Aires, coordinador de asuntos internacionales y agregadurías de la Fiscalía General de la Republica; Mtro. Alejandro Celorio Alcántara, consultor jurídico de la Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores; and Manuel Zepeda, director general de comunicación social de la Secretaria de Cultura pose for a photo at a repatriation ceremony in Mexico on July 19, 2023. During the ceremony, the FBI repatriated a document signed by Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés to the government of Mexico. Photo credit: U.S. State Department
More than a dozen other documents carrying the signature of Cortés remain missing. The FBI is asking anyone with any information about the other documents' whereabouts, to contact them by calling 1-800-CALL-FBI or visit their website.