Anti-Colombian sentiment (Spanish: anticolombianismo) is a xenophobic, discriminatory and/or prejudicial view of Colombia, Colombians and/or Colombian culture. Due to the diversity of racial and ethnic backgrounds of Colombians, Anti-Colombian sentiment, unlike most forms of xenophobia, is not based on race or appearance as much as it is on nationality, though ethnic minorities such as Black and Indigenous Colombians may face additional issues abroad that White or Mestizo Colombians may not.
Anti-Colombian sentiment most often stems from negative stereotypes of Colombians originating in popular culture, generally related to illegal drug trade, prostitution and crime. High levels of emigration from the country, mainly because of economic and safety reasons, mostly relating to the Colombian armed conflict (especially since the early 2000s), have worsen the situation by allowing stereotypes to turn into xenophobic acts against Colombian migrants.
Causes
Depictions of Colombia abroad
Since the 1980s, movies and series portraying Colombia, or rather, Colombians in some sort of way have done so in a way they're involved in crime, mainly relating to international drug trade and, to a lesser degree, illegal immigration. This has diverted focus away from Colombia itself towards Colombians in foreign nations, namely the United States and countries in Europe. Oftentimes, Colombian media studios themselves portray Colombians in this light, with primary examples including The Mafia Dolls, Pablo Escobar, The Drug Lord or Sin tetas no hay paraíso.
US movies portraying Colombia, for example, often do so from a US-centrist perspective, trivializing Colombian society as "rural", "primitive", "backwards" or "inherently violent" and establishing a superiority complex in favor of the United States, sometimes not even filming the movie in Colombia or with Colombians, often mistaking aspects of Mexican culture as Colombia's.
Emigration from the country
Due to its economic and security situation, Colombia has historically been a country of emigrants. Emigration from Colombia can be separated into two phenomena: Economic emigration and international forced displacement.
The economy of Colombia is characterized by its big inequality problem, its lack of social mobility and its lack of medium-to-high income jobs within the country motivate educated middle class Colombians, who can afford moving abroad but do not have strong incentives to stay in Colombia, to depart from home seeking a better life in a foreign country, generally the United States, Spain, or Latin American countries with considerably higher income such as Chile. Security concerns may also motivate these people to move abroad, but, for this specific demographic, these concerns are mostly related to non-political violence rather than war.
On the other hand, forced displacement in Colombia since the start of Colombian armed conflict in the 1960s, although mostly taking place within the borders of the country, has forced anywhere between 360 thousand to 2.9 million people to become refugees abroad, mostly low-income individuals; though these numbers are highly unreliable due to the fact most refugees entered their host countries without undergoing formal asylum procedures. This process, although always existent, was intensified during the 2000s after the introduction of Plan Colombia (an umbrella term for US financing of the Colombian government during this period to combat drug cartels and left-wing guerillas), which caused an increase in violence by conflicts between guerrillas, paramilitary organizations and the National Army, as well as the ways the first two intimidate civilians; including forced recruitment and death threads.
By country
Mexico
Border control authorities at Mexico City International Airport have been often accused of xenophobic discrimination (incluiding arbitrary denial of access to the country) against Colombian tourists, particularly men, often giving no explanations whatsoever on why was the person denied access to the country. Allegations of torture on rejected Colombians, as well as other nationalities, inside immigration detention centers have been frequently made and reported on Colombian news media.
In response to the situation, on October 24, 2022, a diplomatic meeting between Colombia and Mexico regarding the treatment of rejected Colombians by Mexican authorities was held. The meeting concluded with a series of agreements including the right of Colombians to communicate with their families and country's consulate in Mexico about the situation, though the Colombian delegation said the meeting was "full of tensions" and "less fruitful than expected".