Embassy Awards Funds to Preserve Prehistoric Rock Art

Charge d'Affaires hands over a symbolic check to the Secretary of Culture.

On October 8, the Secretary of Culture Breni Cuenca received from the Chargé d’Affaires Robert Blau the 2009 Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation award. The $ 30,000 dollars award will allow the Secretariat to undergo the mapping, research, and conservation of the “El Espíritu Santo Cave” rock art site, located in Corinto, Morazán, El Salvador.

The Espíritu Santo Cave is a National Heritage site, the area holds petro glyphs, carvings, negative hands paintings, animals and anthropomorphic figures, geometrical designs and symbols.  Due to the remote location and funding limitations, only about 10% of the site has been studied. Despite the serious threat posed by time, weather and water seepage, both the Foundation and the Secretariat of Culture believe that with proper care, the paintings can be salvaged and preserved.

Almost as important, the municipality and townspeople of Corinto want to collaborate with Secretariat of Culture to preserve and protect the site, and the project has the potential to promote local development through properly controlled tourism.  The site has become an icon of cultural pride for the communities in the region.  The people of the town were represented by Mr. Argelio Alvarez, who thanked the US aid in the region during the last 20 years and underlined the impact that the project of preservation of the cave will have in the community.

Established by Congress in 2001, the Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation aims to assist less developed countries in preserving their cultural heritage.  This year, a total of 162 proposals of cultural preservation from 100 countries were received by the State Department.
A total of 71 grants for 2009 were selected to be supported. This is the seventh time El Salvador is awarded the Cultural Preservation Funds. Up to date, the country has received more than $122 thousand to support cultural heritage preservation.