How Mexico has recovered missing (or stolen) archaeological treasures

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1 theme to highlight: From the classroom to the dispensary

A group of high school teachers

in Albuquerque, New Mexico decided during a

late last year to quit their jobs and open a cannabis dispensary.

Big Picture

: These women are part of the small group of Latinas who have opened dispensaries as more US states legalize recreational marijuana.

from left

From left, Jamie Munsey, Laura Lagarda, Gina Mares, Mary Jean Garcia, and Mallory Garcia at their dispensary Courtesy of Cody Garcia

Details

: La Tiendita de Motita, which opened last week, was founded by Mary Jean Garcia, Mallory Garcia, Jamie Munsey, Gina Mares and Laura Legarda.

They explain that they wanted to do something different and destigmatize marijuana use.

• They were teachers for several years, but they wanted to spend more time with their family and take on a new challenge, they said in an interview.

  Only one of them still teaches.

• Garcia explained that they want to teach others, especially older people who still see marijuana as "something very bad," because they say that cannabis can indeed have medicinal benefits.

Between

the lines: Hispanics make up just 5.7% of licensed cannabis business owners, according to a survey by the National Hispanic Cannabis Council (there is no national database of racial or ethnic information on dispensary owners).

• Finding financing is one of the biggest challenges faced by Latinos who want to be part of this business.

• The Albuquerque teachers said they sold assets and collected pensions to finance La Tiendita.

  They hope to soon be able to open their own cannabis greenhouse.

Beyond

: New Mexico, the state with the highest proportion of Latino population in the US, legalized recreational marijuana with a rule that went into effect earlier this year.

In this measure, the financial challenges to enter the business were taken into account, since the legislators included provisions that help people with limited funds and resources, state senator Gerald Ortiz y Pino, co-author of the law, explained to Axios Latino.

• The legislation also allows those who have a dispensary license to extend the permit to produce/cultivate and for additional services such as home deliveries, said state representative Javier Martínez, another co-author.

2. The art of recovering artifacts

A unique campaign in Mexico

for the voluntary return of archaeological pieces, sometimes obtained by collectors in unclear circumstances (including after theft), has borne fruit.

Current situation:

Mexico claims that it has recovered 8,970 pieces since the launch of #MiPatrimonioNoSeVende in 2018.

• That includes 2,522 pieces of pottery and other artifacts that a Barcelona family handed over in July to the Ministry of Culture, which called it the largest repatriation of artifacts.

  Some of the pieces were put on temporary display at a Mexico City museum last Tuesday.

• New Mexico's Albuquerque Museum Foundation also returned 12 Olmec and other Native American sculptures to Mexican authorities last week after museum staff found the artifacts in old boxes and investigated their origins.

• And in June another two statues were returned from Sweden, where they had been lying in a warehouse belonging to the Absolut Vodka company.

Details

: As part of the campaign, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Culture are approaching institutes and collectors around the world to request returns.

• They have also tried to stop auctions of Mesoamerican artifacts, arguing they were obtained illegally or stolen.

• Some auctions in New York went ahead last year, but others in Europe were canceled following those complaints.

General panorama

: Campaigns for the restitution of art are growing throughout the world in the face of questions and debates about who should own the cultural heritage of a nation.

• Large institutions have agreed to return pieces to their countries of origin after negotiations.

  This spring, the British Museum returned to Chilean authorities a Moai statue taken from Easter Island 150 years ago.

What's next

: Mexico plans to discuss the restitution of cultural artifacts at a major UNESCO meeting in September in its capital, according to Culture Secretary Alejandra Frausto.

3. The latest from Uvalde

A dozen media outlets sued

the Texas Department of Public Safety on Monday, alleging that it withholds public records related to the May 24 Uvalde school shooting.

News push:

They say Texas is violating state law by refusing to release this information.

The state agency claims it is exempt because the criminal investigation is ongoing.

The last survivor

of the shooting who was still hospitalized was released this weekend.

Mayah Zamora, 10, handed out roses to health workers as she finally left the medical center.

On video: The last girl who remained hospitalized for the Uvalde massacre is discharged

July 29, 202200:26

The director of the attacked school,

Mandy Gutiérrez, returned to her position after a brief suspension at the end of last week.

• Gutierrez rejected the findings of a Texas House committee report that the school had a "culture of complacency" when it came to safety.

Parents in Uvalde

are struggling to navigate bureaucracy and access funds for mental health and other costs.

• There are several funds created to help families, but they are difficult to access, parents tell Texas Public Radio.

• The Texas Attorney General's Office said that, as of Wednesday, only $31,150 had been distributed to 34 families of victims.

4. Summary of key news in Latin America and the Caribbean

1. Guatemala on Monday

after arresting the founder of the outlet, amid claims that the government is cracking down on dissenting voices with increasing force.

• José Rubén Zamora, director of El Periódico, was arrested on Friday accused of alleged money laundering.

  International organizations denounced a "judicial persecution", since El Periódico has published reports on government corruption.

They raid his house and arrest the director of a well-known Guatemalan newspaper

July 31, 202201:49

2. Gun ownership in Brazil has continued to rise

as President Jair Bolsonaro has weakened control laws despite police warnings.

• The increase has been especially pronounced in the Amazon region, with a rise of 200% since Bolsonaro came to power in 2018, according to a report by the Igarapé think tank.

• Most report purchases for hunting despite restrictions in the Amazon area.

  Violence by illegal loggers and miners against indigenous activists and residents has been on the rise there.

5. Farewell smile: 📚Bridge to education

Local authorities in Peru are rebuilding a bridge

to a school after a video of a local teacher piggybacking his students across a river went viral.

This teacher crosses a river in Peru with his students on his shoulders so they don't miss classes

July 11, 202201:57

Details

: Eusebio Gavilán began carrying students across the Chontabamba River when the only bridge that linked his town to the school lost entire sections where the wood rotted.

• After a TikTok video went viral, local authorities temporarily placed beams on the bridge.

  They have promised to build a new concrete one.

• The mothers of the students asked the teacher to continue carrying the children in the meantime, fearing that the temporary beams would give way if used too often.

In his own words

: "Two years of the pandemic and the collapse of the bridge... well, if they weren't going to keep losing classes," Gavilán told Noticias Telemundo. They looked for a shallower site for the crossing, near a road, "and we started with the action," he says.

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