Ownership fight erupts over Maya ruins
A dramatic rise in tourism ignites a debate in Mexico: Should a private family own an archaeological treasure?
from the October 17, 2007 edition
Page 2 of 3
Not long afterward, Fernando Barbachano Peon, the grandnephew of a former Yucatán governor, saw tourism potential in the ancient city. In 1944, Barbachano Peon bought the property from the Thompson family and laid the groundwork for the Yucatán Peninsula to become the most lucrative tourist area in the country. "We were a major force in making Chichen Itza significant," says Hans Thies Barbachano. "Nobody cared about it."
Today, more than a million tourists visit Chichen Itza each year, a number that officials hope will double as a result of its status as a "New Wonder of the World." Millions of people voted to designate it a "wonder" this summer as part of a commercial contest by a Swiss filmmaker. The results were announced in July.
Although the renewed interest in the site has touched off a small land war, many archaeological treasures in Mexico lie on private plots. The Barbachanos, for instance, also own the land under Uxmal, another nearby Maya city. While a 1972 federal law put archaeological ruins in state hands, the vast majority that dot the countryside sit on either private land or ejidos, farm cooperatives established in the mid-1900s.
It is Chichen Itza, though, that has touched off a national debate over cultural heirlooms. "A World Heritage site cannot be at the whim of a family," says Mr. Suarez del Real.
INAH seems to agree with his logic. Eduardo Perez de Heredia, head of the INAH in Chichen Itza, pulls up a charter adopted by an international group of architects in 1931. He points to a declaration that says private interests should be subordinate to the interests of the community. "It's just common sense," he says. "How can you protect something that is not yours?"
The INAH appears to have the money to buy the land. The agency's director, Alfonso de Maria y Campos, recently indicated that it has $1.5 million to purchase property on which archaeological ruins lie. He decreed Chichen Itza a priority. The land was valued at $750,000 last year.
But complicating a land transfer are the tensions that surface in many families over estates. The Barbachanos are a diverse lot: Over the years, the clan has included a governor, a filmmaker, an archaeologist, and other notable members. One thing all of them agree on is that they are under attack, even though they feel they have honored the nation's heritage. Evan Albright, who is writing a book on Chichen Itza, agrees the Barbachanos have been "good shepherds of the land."
But the family has different visions of what to do with the property. Hans Thies Barbachano, who inherited a parcel from his late grandfather at the heart of the archaeology site, prefers to keep it in family hands. But since the government is interested in the acreage, he says he's open to selling it – for a fair price.
RSS feed
