Although Colombia is undergoing its worst economic, political and social crisis of the last 50 years, the level of anti-Semitism remained low in 1997, being limited to occasional graffiti and the sale of imported anti-Semitic literature.

Colombia is undergoing its worst economic, social and political crisis of the last 50 years. It is regarded as one of the most corrupt countries in the world, occupying third place in a list of 52, prepared by the international German-based Organización Transparencia Internacional (OTI).

The 8,000 members of the Jewish community live in the main cities of Bogotá, Medellín, Cali and Barranquilla. They, too, are affected by the crisis and have difficulty maintaining Jewish organizations such as synagogues, clubs and schools.

Anti-Semitic expressions were few in Colombia. Occasional graffiti against Jews and swastikas appeared on walls, and anti-Semitic books such as The Protocols of the Elders of Zion and works by the Brazilian anti-Semite Siegfried Ellwanger Castan were available in bookshops.

A book published by Editorial La Torre in Spain, 150 Geniuses Express Their Opinions about the Jews, was reprinted by the Colombian publisher Editorial La Verdad and circulated in the country. This book contains only negative opinions of various famous persons with respect to the Jews.

The Lyndon LaRouche-influenced movement Movimiento Solidaridad Iberoamericana (Ibero-American Solidarity Movement), led by Maximiliano Londono, advertised in its bi-monthly publication Solidaridad Iberoamericana, the Colombian edition of the book El Complot para aniquilar a las Fuerzas Armadas y a las Naciones de Iberoamérica (The Plot to Get Rid of the Military Forces and the Ibero-American Nations). The book includes a presentation by the Argentinean nationalistic and anti-Semitic colonel Mohamed Ali Seineldín, who is in prison in Argentina, and an introduction by the American right-wing extremist Lyndon Larouche (see USA).

A five-month course about the Holocaust was organized by the Jewish community through the Office of Human Relations of B'nai B'rith, in cooperation with the Catholic university Colegio Mayor de Nuestra Señora del Rosario.