Nearly 14 years after its disappearance, the whereabouts of the bronze bust honoring Juan Ignacio María de Castorena Ursúa Goyeneche Villarreal—widely recognized as the first journalist in America—remain an absolute mystery to local authorities and cultural institutions in Zacatecas.
The sculpture, which originally stood in the Plazuela de los Periodistas adjacent to the Rafael Coronel Museum, vanished at the beginning of 2012. According to local chroniclers, the piece had initially suffered acts of vandalism, prompting authorities to temporarily store it in the museum before reinstating it in the public plaza, where it ultimately disappeared without a trace. Today, only the empty pedestal and its commemorative plaque bearing his name and birth-death years (1668–1733) remain at the site.
Castorena Ursúa, a native of Zacatecas and former Bishop of Yucatán, holds a monumental place in Latin American history not only as a pioneer of journalism but also for his literary contributions, including editing and writing the prologue for Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz’s posthumous work published in Madrid in 1700.
The missing bust highlights a broader, troubling trend of unsolved thefts involving historical monuments and public art across Zacatecas over the past two decades—including sculptures of poet Ramón López Velarde and national hero Benito Juárez—none of which have ever been recovered.
In response to the lingering mystery, Raquel Ciceley Toribio Rivas, head of the Junta de Protección y Conservación de Monumentos y Zonas Típicas de Zacatecas, announced that the agency will launch a formal investigation to determine if criminal charges can still be pursued. Authorities admitted that previous administrations failed to maintain proper inventories or monitoring protocols, though current efforts are underway to comprehensively catalog the city’s historic architectural and artistic heritage.
Source: https://oem.com.mx/elsoldezacatecas
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