Colombian president purges National Museum of works promoting ‘communism’

Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella has confirmed he is spearheading a cultural "counterrevolution" that includes removing dozens of exhibits from the National Museum, drawing protests and comparisons to United States President Donald Trump.

Key points

• Dozens of demonstrators gathered on Wednesday outside the National Museum in downtown Bogota as riot police guarded its entrance.
• Sanchez-Garzoli remarked Trump's cooperation with allied Latin American governments on security and counternarcotics efforts additionally has an ideological dimension.
• Colombia's Culture Minister Paola Holguin remarked the administration was reviewing and redesigning exhibitions and curatorial practices at other museums overseen by her ministry.
• Trump has been fiercely critical of museums in Washington, particularly those tied to the Smithsonian Institution.
• The Foreign Ministry additionally renamed a courtyard previously honouring an Indigenous leader, describing the change as part of the president's campaign against "woke" ideology.

De la Espriella, a conservative Trump ally, remarked last week that he wants to prevent cultural institutions from being taken over by what he calls "atheist social communism".

Since then, exhibits have been taken down that once addressed the history of social movements, including feminist and LGBTQ+ activism, and Colombia's political violence.

For context, the changes have sparked protests by civil rights groups, artists and students who have accused the administration of censorship and warn that notable parts of the country's history could be erased.

"I find it outrageous that they want to erase part of our history, " remarked Azul Riascos, a history student.

He remarked the administration was promoting a vision of Colombia as exclusively white, Catholic and Spanish-speaking. That image, he explained, excluded Black, Indigenous and LGBTQ+ communities.

Gimena Sanchez-Garzoli, director for the Andes at the Washington Office on Latin America, a research and advocacy organisation, remarked the Colombian government's approach reflects a broader trend among Trump allies who are copying US political narratives and strategies.

In practice, the White House published a report in July branding leaders of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History as radical activists and has ordered signs to be installed outside the museum telling visitors that some of the exhibits are inaccurate.

Almost three months after that order, such signs haven't been installed. The museum's director, Anthea Hartig, informed Congress that the White House report "does not fairly or accurately characterise the full body of work at the museum".

"These are imported narratives about terrorism and about being 'woke, '" anthropologist Arturo Sanabria remarked during Wednesday's protest, describing the Colombian government's approach as a form of neocolonial intervention.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministry additionally renamed a courtyard previously honouring an Indigenous leader, describing the change as part of the president's campaign against "woke" ideology.

"The government is making serious efforts in a cultural battle that probably doesn't exist, " political scientist Estefania Cardozo remarked outside the museum. "It is inventing one to erase identities that cannot be erased because they already exist."

Taken together, the developments around colombian president purges National Museum of works promoting 'communism' point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.