Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella has announced a cultural "counter-revolution" that includes removing dozens of exhibits from the National Museum, a move that has sparked protests and comparisons with US President Donald Trump.
De la Espriella, a conservative politician and Trump ally, said last week he wanted to stop cultural institutions from being dominated by what he called "atheistic social communism." Since then, numerous exhibits touching on the history of social movements — including feminism and LGBTQ+ activism — as well as political violence in Colombia, have been taken down.
The changes have triggered protests by civil rights groups, artists and students, who accuse the government of censorship and warn that important parts of the country's history could be erased.
On Wednesday, dozens of demonstrators gathered outside the National Museum in central Bogotá while riot police guarded the entrance. "I find it outrageous that they want to erase part of our history," said Azul Riascos, a history student. Riascos argued the government is promoting an image of Colombia as purely white, Catholic and Spanish-speaking, thereby excluding Black, Indigenous and LGBTQ+ communities.
Gimena Sanchez-Garzoli, Andes director at the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), a research and advocacy organization, said the Colombian government's approach reflects a broader trend among Trump allies who are copying US narratives and political strategies.
Trump has sharply criticized museums in Washington, particularly those of the Smithsonian Institution. In July the White House released a report calling leaders of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History radical activists and ordered signs placed outside the museum telling visitors some exhibits were inaccurate. Nearly three months later, the signs have not been installed. The museum's director, Anthea Hartig, told Congress that the White House report "does not fairly and accurately reflect the full scope of the museum's work."
Sanchez-Garzoli said Trump's cooperation with allied governments in Latin America on security and counter-narcotics also carries an ideological element. "These are imported narratives about terrorism and about being called 'woke,'" anthropologist Arturo Sanabria said at Wednesday's protest, describing the Colombian government's approach as a form of neocolonial intervention.
Colombian Culture Minister Paola Holguin said the government is reviewing and redesigning displays and curatorial practices at other museums run by the ministry. The Foreign Ministry has also renamed a courtyard that once honored an Indigenous leader, describing the change as part of the president's campaign against "woke" ideology.
"The government is waging a serious fight in a culture war that probably doesn't exist," political scientist Estefania Cardozo said outside the museum. "They are creating a war to erase identities that cannot be erased because they already exist."
