Easter Island’s ancient Statue to be returned to homeland
MercoPress, Uruguay
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The eight-foot high statue and its red cap were first sent to Chile in 1927, and then taken out of Chile in 1970. On Tuesday evening, the statue will be given a farewell party in Buenos Aires’ Recoleta Cultural Center before making its journey home.
The statue was taken from the island’s capital town of Hanga Roa in 1927 when it was given to then-president of Chile Carlos Ibáñez del Campo. It remained in Santiago until 1970, but was then sold and transported to Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Later it was displayed in Holland for eight months. It was upon returning to Argentina that the statue became the center of a complicated legal row. Rosa Velasco, the Chilean who now owns the statue, has worked for three years to bring it back to Easter Island. Velasco, together with Chile’s Ambassador in Argentina, Luis Maria, and President of the Easter Island Elders, Alberto Hotus Chávez, finally secured the statue’s repatriation.
The giant stone moai will be transported to Valparaiso before being loaded onto an Armed Forces’ ship and carried an inauguration ceremony on Easter Island late this week.
Apr 11, 2006
MercoPress, Uruguay
_______________
The eight-foot high statue and its red cap were first sent to Chile in 1927, and then taken out of Chile in 1970. On Tuesday evening, the statue will be given a farewell party in Buenos Aires’ Recoleta Cultural Center before making its journey home.
The statue was taken from the island’s capital town of Hanga Roa in 1927 when it was given to then-president of Chile Carlos Ibáñez del Campo. It remained in Santiago until 1970, but was then sold and transported to Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Later it was displayed in Holland for eight months. It was upon returning to Argentina that the statue became the center of a complicated legal row. Rosa Velasco, the Chilean who now owns the statue, has worked for three years to bring it back to Easter Island. Velasco, together with Chile’s Ambassador in Argentina, Luis Maria, and President of the Easter Island Elders, Alberto Hotus Chávez, finally secured the statue’s repatriation.
The giant stone moai will be transported to Valparaiso before being loaded onto an Armed Forces’ ship and carried an inauguration ceremony on Easter Island late this week.
Apr 11, 2006
