According to news reports, Mexico’s Secretary of Public Education will announce today or tomorrow permission to hold a Placido Domingo concert at Chichen Itza on Oct. 4.

But if one news account is to be believed, a group of INAH-related scientists have formally protested that permission to the president of Mexico, asking him to override the decision and prohibit the concert from taking place. Last week officials within the Secretariat of Public Education told reporters that even though INAH oversees and manages ancient sites such as Chichen Itza for the federal government, the responsibility for making the decision falls to education department, to which INAH reports. As a result, a group of individuals affiliated with INAH have sent a letter to President Felipe Calderon saying that the concert is “a transgression of the law,” according to Milenio.

Dr. Pedro Paz, Sergio Gomez, William Cordova, Felipe Echenique and Estela Martinez, and others have written that the concept that Secretariat of Public Education Josefina Vazquez Mota has the power “to authorize such a spectacle” is “a fallacy.” Federal law also prohibits anyone from conducting activities that generate a profit from sites of patrimony such as Chichen Itza.

The Milenio article also reports that the Council of Archaeology at INAH has been asked to render a second opinion. Last month the council rejected the proposed concert because of the danger it would pose to the monuments and because the ownership of the site is shared with the Barbachano family. However, according to Jorge Esma, director of CULTUR, the Yucatan Culture Trust, the latter condition is not an issue because he has a letter from Hans Thies Barbachano, owner of the property, and he has given permission to hold the concert.

Previously:

Secretary of Education, Not INAH, to Decide on Placido Domingo Concert at Chichen Itza

UPDATE: Placido Domingo Concert at Chichen Itza Still up in Air, But Lots of Juicy Detail Revealed

INAH Heading for Showdown With State of Yucatan over Placido Domingo Concert?

INAH Council Issues Decision on Placido Domingo at Chichen Itza: ‘NO’

INAH Mum on Placido Domingo Concert at Chichen Itza

Placido Domingo to Sing At Chichen Itza October 4

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When Pavarotti Sang to the Maya

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