Unearthing a Colombian Politician’s Connections to Neo-Nazi Active Club Group

This investigation is a collaboration between Bellingcat and Colombian media outlet Cerosetenta. You can read Cerosetenta’s piece in Spanish here . 26 shows several men painting over graffiti in Restrepo, a neighbourhood in Bogota, Colombia, and replacing them with images of their own: a logo used by Colombian political candidate and businessman Jorge Rodriguez, who is one of the men shown in the footage.

“Today we are defending public space to stop generating hatred in future generations!” said the caption posted on Instagram by Rodriguez, who unsuccessfully ran for office in the March 2026 congressional elections as part of Centro Democratico, the country’s largest right-wing party. But at least one of the graffiti-ed pieces they painted over carried a message critical of, rather than promoting, hate: “Creole Nazis will not pass” – using a term that refers to Nazi sympathisers in Latin America. A screenshot of Rodriguez’s Feb. 26, 2026 video showing men painting over graffiti with the words “Nazis Criollos no pasaran”, or “Creole Nazis will not pass”. Source: Instagram And although the faces of most of the men shown in the video were pixelated, the tattoos visible on one of them have multiple similarities with a prominent member of neo-Nazi group Active Club Bogota – an individual known as Javier “Orlik” Ruiz, whom Rodriguez follows on Instagram and who “liked” the video. In response to Bellingcat and Cerosetenta’s queries via Instagram, Rodriguez did not answer questions about his relationship with Active Club Bogota or the individual we identified as appearing in his videos, but said he was “not obligated to respond to any interview or request without a court order”. He also threatened legal action if we used his image or name in this investigation, saying that this would violate his rights to privacy, reputation and data protection, as well as the right to his own image. Your donations directly contribute to our ability to publish groundbreaking investigations and uncover wrongdoing around the world. Similarly, Ruiz did not reply to questions that Bellingcat sent via email, including on his role in Active Club Bogota, but responded to our query by threatening legal action if we used his name, image or background information about him without his “prior, express and informed authorisation”. Ruiz said in his email that, among other things, processing his personal data without authorisation could be considered a violation of personal data under Colombian law. After Bellingcat replied to both Rodriguez and Ruiz, noting that they did not answer our questions and inviting them again to do so, Ruiz responded with another legal threat referencing data laws – again without answering any questions related to this investigation. Bellingcat and Cerosetenta have consulted legal experts in both the Netherlands, where Bellingcat is headquartered, and in Colombia on the question of how privacy laws in both countries are balanced against the right to freedom of expression.

Key points

• “Today we are defending public space to stop generating hatred in future generations!” said the caption posted on Instagram by Rodriguez, who unsuccessfully ran for office in the March 2026 congres…
• But at least one of the graffiti-ed pieces they painted over carried a message critical of, rather than promoting, hate: “Creole Nazis will not pass” – using a term that refers to Nazi sympathisers…
• A screenshot of Rodriguez’s Feb.
• 26, 2026 video showing men painting over graffiti with the words “Nazis Criollos no pasaran”, or “Creole Nazis will not pass”.
• Source: Instagram And although the faces of most of the men shown in the video were pixelated, the tattoos visible on one of them have multiple similarities with a prominent member of neo-Nazi grou…