Far-right candidate's election in Colombia clouds future of long-delayed museum devoted to victims of armed conflict

Construction has resumed on Bogotá’s Museo de Memoria de Colombia after a three-year pause, but the project’s future has been thrown into uncertainty following the narrow election victory of right-wing lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella as Colombia’s next president. The museum—intended to address more than 70 years of internal armed conflict—was more than 70% complete when work restarted, and director Adriana María González Maxcyclak said it is expected to open partially in 2027 with about 56,000 sq. ft of space and be completed by 2029. De la Espriella, who takes office on 7 August, campaigned on a hardline security agenda and reducing the state, prompting warnings that institutions tied to peace and historical memory, including the Centro Nacional de Memoria Histórica (CNMH) that oversees the museum, could be weakened or merged. The project originated in the 2011 Victims and Land Restitution Law and was reinforced by the 2016 peace agreement with the Farc, but it has faced repeated delays, including a 2020 contract awarded to Spanish firm OHLA with nearly $16m in initial investment that stalled after the contract expired in 2022 with only half the building completed.

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