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Bogotá police turn water cannon on protesters over works removed from museum
Police in Bogotá used water cannon and stun grenades on Sunday against demonstrators protesting the removal of some 30 pieces from Colombia’s National Museum on the orders of President Abelardo de la Espriella. The sit-in outside the museum ended in scuffles for a second day.
Protests in the Colombian capital Bogotá against the removal of some 30 pieces linked to political history, the peace process and the LGBTQ+ movement from the National Museum (Museo Nacional) turned tense again on Sunday. Police used water cannon and stun grenades against demonstrators gathered on Carrera Séptima in front of the museum.
At least 300 people joined the sit-in, which began at 10 a.m. on Sunday with banners, flags and art activities. At around 3:30 p.m., the police riot unit Unadi, formerly known as ESMAD, sprayed water at the crowd from armored vehicles, while some protesters threw stones at officers. The footage below shows the intervention near the TransMilenio station by the museum.
In the evening, the unrest spread to the Center for Memory, Peace and Reconciliation on Calle 26. At least 800 people were reported to have gathered outside the museum over the weekend.
The first day also ended in scuffles
According to Colombia’s Ombudsman’s Office (Defensoría del Pueblo), about 500 people gathered outside the museum from midday on Saturday. Water cannon fire began at around 6:30 p.m. Order was restored at about 7:30 p.m. after scuffles in which stun grenades were used and stones were thrown.
The order came from the president
Last week, on the orders of President Abelardo de la Espriella, the Culture Ministry removed the works from the museum’s “Hacer sociedad,” “Memoria y Nación” and “Fuerza, fe y sustancia” halls and placed them in storage. De la Espriella said he had instructed Culture Minister Paola Holguín to remove from public places “all that ode to terrorism” featuring Carlos Pizarro, a former commander of the M-19 guerrilla group, adding: “Here, terrorists will never again have a place as if they were heroes of the nation.”
Holguín argued that the museum cannot become “a space for political indoctrination or for glorifying crime.” De la Espriella described the decision as a “cultural counterrevolution” against what he called the “woke” agenda of former President Gustavo Petro.
Peace agreement pen also put in storage
The removed items include campaign posters of Pizarro, who ran for president after the M-19 laid down its arms and was assassinated in 1990, and of Patriotic Union (UP) candidate Bernardo Jaramillo Ossa, who was assassinated the same year. Also on the list are 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 and photographs of pride marches.
Government and ombudsman at odds
Interior Minister Rodrigo Lara said police intervened only 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.
Ombudsman Iris Marín described the use of a water cannon vehicle against a peaceful protest as “unnecessary and disproportionate” and noted that the Constitutional Court recognizes that blocking roads can be part of the right to protest. The human rights group Temblores said people had been injured and irregularly detained. No official figures on injuries or detentions have been released.
Carolina Restrepo, director of the Colombian Family Welfare Institute (ICBF), accused some adults of putting children at the front of the protest. “Children are not shields, they are not instruments of protest,” she said. Modern art museums and cultural organizations across the country also rejected the removal in a joint statement.
More protests planned this week
Opposition lawmaker Jennifer Pedraza announced that Holguín will be summoned to Congress for an oversight debate. Bogotá authorities said two of the eight demonstrations planned in the city between Oct. 19 and 24 will take place outside the National Museum.
The protests in Bogotá have no connection to the recent demonstrations in France over fuel prices. The protesters’ anger is directed solely at the works removed from the museum.
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