Monday at a press conference at the Musée du Panthéon National Haïtien (MUPANAH) Monique Rocourt Minister of Culture provided an update on "the discovery" last May, of a wreck off the north coast of Haiti by explorer Barry Clifford, better known as a professional treasure hunter, which asserts that it is the remains of Santa Maria (flagship of Christopher Columbus) https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-11254-haiti-culture-the-possible-discovery-of-the-wreck-of-santa-maria-under-surveillance.html

Stating that the Government in this case is very cautious, the Minister declared that there was no certainty about the name of this wreck, which had also been located well before Barry Clifford, through studies conducted between 1978 and 1985 by the University of Florida with the permission of the Haitian government.

The Minister indicated that following the request for technical assistance from the Government of Haiti to the Scientific Council of the UNESCO Convention, in a letter dated June 12, https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-11445-haiti-culture-unesco-will-assist-on-the-supposed-wreck-of-santa-maria.html the Scientific Commission of the UNESCO has deemed non-compliant, the method proposed by Mr. Clifford to perform underwater excavations on alleged remains of the Santa Maria and that the team proposed for this work was not qualified. Following the recommendations of UNESCO, the Government of Haiti rejects the proposition of the explorer and no longer authorizes him to continue its underwater excavations.

In addition, the Minister rejected the state of emergency invoked by Barry Clifford, saying that the wreck was protected by several meters of sediment and showed no risk that justifies immediate excavation.

In response to the request of the Haitian government, UNESCO will provide technical assistance and should send in August a team of experts, who will study in depth the wreck.

See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-11445-haiti-culture-unesco-will-assist-on-the-supposed-wreck-of-santa-maria.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-11254-haiti-culture-the-possible-discovery-of-the-wreck-of-santa-maria-under-surveillance.html

SL/ HaitiLibre