Colombia's president pulls 'communist' works from the National Museum, sparking protests
About 30 pieces on LGBTQ rights, feminism and peace were taken down. A judge has ordered the museum to preserve them.
Colombia's conservative president, Abelardo de la Espriella, says he is leading a cultural "counterrevolution" that has seen exhibits removed from the National Museum in Bogotá, prompting protests and accusations of censorship, AP reported. De la Espriella, an ally of US President Donald Trump, said last week he wanted to stop cultural institutions being taken over by what he called "atheist social communism".
About 30 pieces were taken down from three rooms, covering LGBTQ and feminist activism, the 2016 peace agreement and the country's political violence, El Espectador reported. The president had asked Culture Minister Paola Holguín to remove what he called an "ode to terrorism", referring to works about Colombia's political history.
On 19 October a Bogotá family court ordered the museum, as a temporary measure, to preserve all the removed pieces and not to destroy, move, alter or return them, and to stop removing other works because of their content without a formal decision. The case was brought by congressman Gabriel Becerra of the left-wing Pacto Histórico and LGBTQ groups.
Dozens of protesters gathered outside the museum on Wednesday as riot police guarded the entrance, and students held a class outdoors in front of the building. Holguín said the government was also reviewing exhibitions at other museums overseen by her ministry.