US returns stolen 'Earth Monster' Olmec sculpture to Mexico

Mexico has announced that a huge 2,500-year-old Olmec stone sculpture has been returned from the United States.

Foreign Relations Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said the sculpture was handed over at the Mexican consulate in Denver, Colorado, on Friday.

"It was like an open wound, not having this artefact," Ebrard said.

Experts believe the sculpture was taken clandestinely in the 1960s from Chalcatzingo, a lesser-known ruin site south of Mexico City.

The almost two-metre "Monster of the Earth" sculpture appears to represent the gaping maw of a monster that is big enough to swallow people, and may represent a symbolic entrance to the underworld.

Experts say the sculpture is important because of the insights it provides on the cosmological vision of the Olmecs, considered a founding culture of Meso-America.

Rescuing historical heritage

Several Latin American countries have been working in recent years to restore their ancient artefacts.

The Mexican government has put a huge effort trying to rescue its historical heritage taken from the country, with almost 10,000 goods have been recovered since 2018, according to authorities.

In March this year, Mexico received 43 items from Italian authorities, while in December the Netherlands returned 223 pre-Hispanic artefacts to Mexico.