Colombian government and ombudsman clash over police response to museum protest

Colombia’s interior minister said police in Bogotá were only restoring traffic, while the national ombudsman called the use of a water cannon against a peaceful protest outside the National Museum disproportionate. Protesters have spent two days opposing the removal of some 30 pieces on the president’s orders.

The use of water cannon against protesters outside Colombia’s National Museum in Bogotá has opened a dispute between the government and the Ombudsman’s Office (Defensoría del Pueblo). On Sunday, the second day of protests against the removal of some 30 pieces from the museum, armored police vehicles sprayed water at demonstrators who had blocked Carrera Séptima.

Interior Minister Rodrigo Lara said police intervened solely to restore traffic after the avenue was completely blocked. “Under no circumstances can a total blockade of Carrera Séptima, one of Bogotá’s main arteries, be allowed,” he said, adding that the response was coordinated with the mayor’s office and that the right to peaceful protest was protected.

Ombudsman Iris Marín, by contrast, called the deployment of a water cannon vehicle against a peaceful protest “unnecessary and disproportionate.” She noted that, under Constitutional Court rulings, blocking roads can be part of the right to protest and does not in itself justify breaking up a demonstration.

How the day unfolded

Sunday’s sit-in began at 10 a.m. and drew at least 300 people. At around 3:30 p.m., the police riot unit Unadi, formerly ESMAD, used water cannon and stun grenades, and some protesters responded by throwing stones. The video below shows the intervention near the TransMilenio station next to the museum.

In the evening, tensions spread to the Center for Memory, Peace and Reconciliation on Calle 26. The rights group Temblores reported injuries and irregular detentions, saying detainees were taken to police posts and temporary holding centers. There are no official figures yet on injuries or detentions.

The first protest on Saturday drew about 500 people, according to the Ombudsman’s Office. Water cannon was used at around 6:30 p.m. that day, and order was restored by about 7:30 p.m. In total, at least 800 people came to the museum over the two days.

Protesters on Carrera Séptima in Bogotá during the police intervention

Why the works were removed

The Culture Ministry, headed by Paola Holguín, moved the works to storage last week on the direct orders of President Abelardo de la Espriella. The president had demanded the removal from public places of “all that ode to terrorism” featuring Carlos Pizarro, a former commander of the M-19 guerrilla group. “I do not accept the glorification of terrorism. In this government, it is over,” he said.

Holguín said the museum must not become “a space for political indoctrination or for glorifying crime.” De la Espriella has described his course as a “cultural counterrevolution” against the “wokeism” of the government of his predecessor, Gustavo Petro.

The removed items include campaign posters of Pizarro and Patriotic Union candidate Bernardo Jaramillo Ossa, both assassinated in 1990, as well as the “Balígrafo,” a bullet-casing pen used to sign the 2016 peace agreement with the FARC. The “Seventh Ballot” that paved the way for the 1991 Constitution, an LGBTQ+ pride flag, photos of LGBTQ+ marches and feminist posters were also sent to storage.

Criticism and new protests

Carolina Restrepo, head of the Colombian Family Welfare Institute (ICBF), criticized adults who put children in the front rows, saying that children are “not shields” and “not instruments of protest.” Modern art museums and cultural organizations opposed the removal in a joint statement, and lawmaker Jennifer Pedraza said Holguín will be summoned to Congress for an oversight debate.

Bogotá authorities expect eight protests in the city this week, two of them outside the National Museum. The protests in Colombia are not connected to the recent demonstrations in France against rising fuel prices.

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Colombian government and ombudsman clash over police response to museum protest