Mexico wins removal of pre-Hispanic artifact at Vienna sale

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico has succeeded in removing a pre-Hispanic artifact from a planned Vienna auction, part of the government’s largely unsuccessful campaign to win the return of archaeological treasures. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has mounted a campaign trying to stop the sales, and has asked other governments to return pieces from the Aztec, Maya, Olmec and other cultures. So the government proudly announced Thursday that the Vienna auction house Galerie Zacke had agreed to remove a 1,000-year-old stone carving from a planned sale. The government also says Zacke agreed to get in touch with the owner to see about returning it to Mexico, “in a gesture of empathy and corporate responsibility.”