Colombian citizens protested in Tijuana on Saturday afternoon after learning that the first official meeting with Colombia’s consul in the city had been scheduled at a nightclub. Demonstrators called the venue inappropriate for addressing serious consular needs like immigration paperwork, legal aid, and personal security.
Paola Morales, director of the Asociación de Colombianos en Baja California and a nine-year resident of Tijuana, spoke on behalf of the group. She said the choice of a nightclub, a space designed for evening entertainment, angered community members who expected a formal setting for consular outreach.
3,500 Colombians Across Baja California Lack a Formal Consulate
According to Morales, roughly 3,500 Colombian citizens live across Baja California, spread among Tijuana, Playas de Rosarito, and Mexicali. She said no operational consular office currently exists in the state, which has blocked residents from obtaining passports and other official documents.
The protest is not an isolated incident. Days earlier, on April 26, Morales and other association members filed complaints at the Tijuana regional office of CNDH (Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission) in the Zona Río neighborhood. They alleged broader irregularities in the consular operation, including pressure to participate in political campaigns and demands to integrate individuals connected to the consular representative into their association.
Ambassador Acknowledges Consul Lacks Official Recognition
Morales also said consular officials proposed placing a person close to the consul inside the association as a condition for accessing resources from Colombia Nos Une, a Colombian government program for citizens abroad. She rejected the proposal as outside formal institutional channels.
Colombia’s ambassador to Mexico, Carlos Fernando García Manosalva, recently acknowledged that while a person has been designated as consul in Tijuana, the Mexican government has not yet granted official recognition. That administrative gap has prevented the consul from formally operating, leaving thousands of Colombian nationals without basic consular services in the region.
For the Colombian community in Baja California, the stakes are practical: no functioning consulate means no way to renew passports, authenticate documents, or receive emergency assistance without traveling to Mexico City or Guadalajara.
The story was first reported by Semanario ZETA and El Imparcial.