The Colombian Ministry of Culture has removed this Friday the monuments to Christopher Columbus and Isabel la Católica from the capital, Bogotá, after indigenous people of the Misak ethnic group tried to demolish them during the protests called against the Government of Iván Duque.
According to the Colombian authorities, the removal of the statues takes place due to the difficulties that an eventual restoration would represent if they are vandalized. The transfer of the monuments has a cost of 26 million pesos (about 6 million euros), has collected Blu Radio.
The intention of the Ministry of Culture is now to begin an "open" dialogue with ethnic communities, historians and patrimonialists on monuments, many of them vandalized in various regions of the country during the protests, which have been held for more than a month.
Indigenous people tried to tear down the statues, located in the vicinity of El Dorado Airport, on Wednesday. The intervention of the Colombian Police was necessary to secure the monuments. Indigenous Misak also demolished on May 7 the statue of the conqueror Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada, which was located in the center of the capital.
