THE National Latin American Museum (NMAL), a new Smithsonian Institution museum in advanced planning in Washington, D.C., is at risk of partisan bickering over 2024 federal budget spending. The hill reported.
Republican members of the committee reportedly targeted the museum, which after years of grassroots campaigning was created by an act of Congress in 2020, named Jorge Zamanillo as its first director last year and was getting closer site selection– partly due to the contents of a pop-up exhibit at the Molina Family Latino Gallery inside the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. This space currently presents the exhibition ¡Present! A Latin American History, which critics say gives too much space to discussions of European colonialism, forced displacement, and US political and military interventions in Latin America. Critics argue that the museum does not do enough to denounce left-wing populist governments like Fidel Castro’s regime in Cuba.
“I don’t know who did this, I don’t know if they’re Hispanic, but it’s really kind of like a racist portrayal of Hispanics,” said Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart, a Republican whose constituency includes parts of Miami-Dade County. The hill. “And also just trying to paint the United States as bad in every way.”
Another House Appropriations Committee member, Rep. Adriano Espaillat (whose New York City district includes parts of upper Manhattan and the Bronx), introduced an amendment during the July 19 session to try to restore the NMAL. This amendment was rejected.
“The Latin community is not monolithic”, Espaillat writing on Twitter. “We are very diverse and for Republicans to want to drive a stake through the heart of the Smithsonian Museum honoring Latino culture in America is unacceptable.”
Representatives for the Smithsonian and NMAL had not responded to requests for comment at press time.
The same bill in which the House Appropriations Committee barred funding for the NMAL last week provided funding for the other new Smithsonian museum in advanced planning stages, the American Women’s History Museum. Federal funding for the Smithsonian and its museums and other institutions comes from appropriations from the U.S. federal budget; It is credit for 2023 totaled $1.14 billion.
The push to politicize NMAL funding comes as Republicans increasingly seek to Court Latinosthe fastest growing ethnic group of voters and, until recently, thought to identify as Democrats more often.
