The Government of Abelardo De la Espriella officially appointed D'Mar Cordoba Salamanca as the new director of the National Center for Historical Memory (CNMH), an institution created to document the violence suffered by millions of Colombians during decades of armed conflict.
His appointment has sparked controversy over the positions the lawyer and journalist has expressed regarding the nature of that confrontation and the Peace Agreement signed with the FARC in 2016.
Cordoba took office yesterday, Wednesday, after his appointment was formally approved and, in his first message as director, sought to address one of the main criticisms of his appointment: he stated that he recognizes the existence of the armed conflict and does not intend to modify reports already published by the Center.
However, his public career has been marked by questions about the way the state has used that legal category and by a particularly critical view of the narratives built around the peace process.
Colombia's Memory Center to be led by an armed conflict denier
A lawyer from the Catholic University of Colombia, with specializations in Constitutional and Administrative Law and a master's degree in Constitutional Law, Cordoba also has training in digital journalism, broadcasting, and radio and television production.
For nearly two decades, he was associated with the radio program La Hora de la Verdad, hosted by former minister Fernando Londoño, one of the leading figures of Colombia's political right. He also worked as a legal adviser to congressional caucuses and legislative teams in Congress and was a university professor.
His ties to conservative sectors are not limited to the media. Cordoba worked in the legislative offices of then-senators Paola Holguin — now Minister of Culture — and Thania Vega, both members of the Democratic Center party, and has participated in forums associated with the so-called “culture war†waged by the right against the left. He has also been associated with the Escuela Libertad Foundation, an organization linked to sectors of Colombia's radical right.
The main controversy surrounding his appointment stems from his statements about the armed conflict. In social media posts, Cordoba has questioned the concept used to describe decades of confrontation between the state, guerrilla groups, and other armed actors. In March 2025, he argued that the “narrative of the armed conflict†had been used to portray the FARC and ELN as belligerent forces, a position that led various sectors to label him a denier.
After the Truth Commission presented its final report in 2022, Cordoba promoted an alternative initiative called the Civil Commission for the Clarification of the Truth. Its purpose was to collect, in particular, testimonies from victims of the FARC, including members of the Armed Forces, on the grounds that those accounts had not received sufficient attention from the mechanism created by the Havana Agreement.
He also questioned public spending allocated to the Truth Commission and argued — in statements that opposing sectors described as “demagogic†— that those resources could have been used for hospitals and schools.
Upon taking over the CNMH, however, Cordoba publicly qualified his position. He said that the armed conflict exists and is recognized under Colombian and international law, but insisted that his criticism concerns the “political use†of that category. He also promised to expand the institution's archives and listen to victims from different backgrounds.
“I take over as Director General of the Center for Memory with a single obligation: the victims. There are no first- or second-class victims. Law 1448 does not distinguish based on the perpetrator of the harm, and neither do I,†he said in a video posted on his social media accounts following yesterday's swearing-in ceremony.
Asumo la Dirección General del @CentroMemoriaH con una sola obligación: las vÃctimas.
No hay vÃctimas de primera ni de segunda. La Ley 1448 no distingue por el autor del daño, y yo tampoco.
Gracias, Presidente @ABDELAESPRIELLA. Vamos a darle voz a las vÃctimas todas. pic.twitter.com/r5x31BOaOi
— D´Mar Córdoba (@dmarcordoba) August 26, 2026
An institution central to historical memory
The National Center for Historical Memory was created under Law 1448 of 2011, known as the Victims' Law, with a mandate to collect, preserve, and disseminate documents, testimonies, and other materials related to violations committed during the conflict. Its objectives include contributing to the right to truth, symbolic reparations, and guarantees of non-repetition.
Its responsibilities also include the creation and administration of the Museum of Memory of Colombia, as well as research, archives, educational activities, and projects aimed at preserving victims' experiences.
The institution already faced major controversy during the government of Ivan Duque (2018–2022), when it was headed by Dario Acevedo, who was also criticized for his positions on the conflict and the Peace Agreement. During that period, the Center was excluded from several international memory networks, which it later rejoined during the government of Gustavo Petro (2022–2026).
Now, with Cordoba at the helm, the debate is once again focused on who has the authority to construct and manage the narrative surrounding one of the most painful periods in Colombia's recent history. The new director says he does not intend to erase what has been built, but rather to broaden the range of voices.
Nevertheless, his controversial past statements and the recent memory of the Center's management by a government that does not believe in the Peace Agreement have kept those who consider the construction of historical memory a necessary step toward overcoming the conflict on alert.
In this regard, the new director of the Memory Center faces the challenge of demonstrating that his promise of pluralism can coexist with the institution's obligation to preserve a historical record based on facts, testimonies, and victims' rights.
