This is by no means the only interview in which Bernardo Salcedo (1939–2007) discussed his views on Colombia’s cultural policy; but it is one of the few interviews he granted in which that was all he discussed, and his command of the subject is apparent. Salcedo explains how the country’s structural and political problems are reflected in the prevailing attitudes to culture, and he challenges the people and social classes whose activities and interests contribute to the persistence of Colombia’s difficulties. When he says that earlier directors of Colcultura—an institution that he is glad to say will soon be closed—“made bizarre, anachronistic plans, for opera and ballet, for example,” Salcedo, without naming any names, is referring specifically to the administration of Gloria Zea who was the director of the Museo de Arte Moderno (Museum of Modern Art) in Bogotá from 1969 until 2009, a situation that stifled any chance of change there for decades. And during Mrs. Zea’s tenure as director of Colcultura (Colombian Cultural Institute), she blithely kept her job as director of the Museo de Arte Moderno in Bogotá. Perhaps because of that situation, during this interview Salcedo advocates a program of self-management and universalization. He says: “just as a modern vision has a value in economic terms, like it or not our culture must be compared to contemporary universal examples in order to determine its true weight.” In 1966, after his works were rejected by the juries at the Salón Nacional de Artistas [National Salon for Artists] and he went on to win First Prize at the Cordoba Biennial in Argentina, Salcedo said: “it is unpleasant to exhibit in one’s own home because it leads to a family’s mediocrity, which is what is happening in Colombia.” (El Tiempo, October 18, 1966, p. 16)