More than seven years after the first earthquakes that affected a large part of the cultural heritage of Oaxaca and the country, the reconstruction in the state is still not finished and after the change of federal government a new deadline has been set: December 2024.
To date, of the more than 800 historical and other cultural assets, 25 remain in process due to the rains of the last hurricanes and storms that affected the state of Oaxaca, said the delegation of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH).
At the end of August, in the state of Oaxaca there were 65 properties under reconstruction and that were expected to be completed with the end of the mandate of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, according to the institute’s calculations. However, there are currently 25 that are delayed and will have to be completed in December, said the delegation of the institute.
Among these pending properties, the majority are located in the Sierra Sur and Istmo de Tehuantepec regions. In the case of the city of Oaxaca, which in August had the highest number of monuments under restoration, several have been completed. For example, the temple of La Merced and the San Miguel pantheon.
However, until last weekend, the one that showed work in progress was the former convent of Santo Domingo de Guzmán, where the Francisco de Burgoa library and the Museum of Oaxacan Cultures operate. For its part, the temple area was already seen completed, but with the adobe still in place on one of its sides.
Joel Omar Vázquez Herrera, INAH delegate in Oaxaca, explained that from 2017 to 2023 the Federation has invested 2,000 million pesos for the restoration of the historical and archaeological heritage damaged by the earthquakes of September 7 and 19, 2017, February 16, 2018, and June 23, 2020. In the last Government report, it was reported that for 2024, another 34 million 550 thousand pesos were allocated to Oaxaca.
The amounts include different sources of financing such as institutional insurance, the extinct Natural Disaster Fund (Fonden), the investment portfolios that derived from the extinction of this trust, budgetary extensions and the National Reconstruction Program. But “it corresponds only to the efforts made by INAH,” clarified the official.
Source: imparcialoaxaca
