Colombian president purges National Museum of works promoting ‘communism’

Far-right President Abelardo de la Espriella says he will wage a ‘counterrevolution’ against cultural institutions.

University students hold a class outdoors in front of the National Museum as part of a protest on October 21, 2026 [Fernando Vergara/AP Photo]

Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella has announced 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.

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

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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.

The changes have sparked protests by civil rights groups, artists and students who have accused the government of censorship and warn that important parts of the country’s history could be erased.

Dozens of demonstrators gathered on Wednesday outside the National Museum in downtown Bogota as riot police guarded its entrance.

“I find it outrageous that they want to erase part of our history,” said Azul Riascos, a history student.

He said the government 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, said the Colombian government’s approach reflects a broader trend among Trump allies who are copying US political narratives and strategies.

Trump has been fiercely critical of museums in Washington, particularly those tied to the Smithsonian Institution .

The White House released 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.

Nearly three months after that order, such signs haven’t been installed. The museum’s director, Anthea Hartig, told Congress that the White House report “does not fairly or accurately characterise the full body of work at the museum”.

Sanchez-Garzoli said Trump’s cooperation with allied Latin American governments on security and counternarcotics efforts also has an ideological dimension.

“These are imported narratives about terrorism and about being ‘woke,’” anthropologist Arturo Sanabria said during Wednesday’s protest, describing the Colombian government’s approach as a form of neocolonial intervention.

Colombia’s Culture Minister Paola Holguin said the government was reviewing and redesigning exhibitions and curatorial practices at other museums overseen by her ministry.

The Foreign Ministry also 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 said outside the museum. “It is inventing one to erase identities that cannot be erased because they already exist.”

极右翼总统阿韦拉多·德拉·埃斯普里利亚表示，他将对文化机构发动“反革命”。

2026年10月21日，大学生们在国家博物馆前举行户外课堂，以此表达抗议。[Fernando Vergara/AP Photo]

哥伦比亚总统阿韦拉多·德拉埃斯普里利亚宣布，他正在领导一场文化“反革命”，其中包括从国家博物馆移除数十件展品，此举引发了抗议，并被拿来与美国总统唐纳德·特朗普相提并论。

保守派特朗普盟友德拉埃斯普里利亚上周表示，他希望阻止文化机构被他所谓的“无神论社会共产主义”所接管。

列表 1/3：哥伦比亚在耶路撒冷开设驻以色列大使馆

哥伦比亚反对派团体发起抗议，反对德拉埃斯普里利亚削减开支（名单2/3）

问题 3（共 3 题）：为什么拉丁美洲国家要与以色列建立更紧密的联系？

此后，一些曾经讲述社会运动历史（包括女权主义和 LGBTQ+ 行动主义）以及哥伦比亚政治暴力的展览被撤下。

这些变化引发了公民权利团体、艺术家和学生的抗议，他们指责政府进行审查，并警告说，该国历史的重要部分可能会被抹去。

周三，数十名示威者聚集在波哥大市中心的国家博物馆外，防暴警察守卫着博物馆入口。

“他们想要抹去我们历史的一部分，我觉得这太离谱了，”历史系学生阿祖尔·里亚斯科斯说道。

他说，政府正在宣传一种哥伦比亚的形象，即一个完全由白人、天主教徒和西班牙语使用者组成的国家。他解释说，这种形象排斥了黑人、原住民和LGBTQ+群体。

华盛顿拉丁美洲办公室（一个研究和倡导组织）安第斯山脉主任吉梅娜·桑切斯-加尔佐利表示，哥伦比亚政府的做法反映了特朗普盟友中一种更广泛的趋势，即效仿美国的政治叙事和战略。

特朗普一直对华盛顿的博物馆，特别是与史密森学会有关的博物馆，持强烈批评态度。

白宫在 7 月份发布了一份报告，将史密森尼美国国家历史博物馆的领导人称为激进分子，并下令在博物馆外安装标牌，告知参观者一些展品不准确。

下达命令近三个月后，这些标牌仍未安装。博物馆馆长安西娅·哈蒂格向国会表示，白宫的报告“未能公正准确地描述博物馆的全部藏品”。

桑切斯-加尔佐利表示，特朗普与拉丁美洲盟国政府在安全和禁毒方面的合作也具有意识形态层面。

“这些都是关于恐怖主义和‘觉醒’的舶来叙事，”人类学家阿图罗·萨纳布里亚在周三的抗议活动中说道，他将哥伦比亚政府的做法描述为一种新殖民主义干预形式。

哥伦比亚文化部长保拉·奥尔金表示，政府正在审查和重新设计其部门管辖的其他博物馆的展览和策展方式。

外交部还重新命名了一个此前以一位原住民领袖命名的庭院，称此举是总统反对“觉醒”意识形态运动的一部分。

“政府正在大力开展一场可能根本不存在的文化斗争，”政治学家埃斯特法尼亚·卡多佐在博物馆外说道，“它捏造了一场斗争，试图抹杀那些无法抹杀的身份认同，因为这些身份认同早已存在。”