Amidst a Political and Image Dispute in Colombia

On March 8, 2026, Colombia will elect their parliament, and the campaign is in full heat.

What has caught our attention is Daniel Briceño’s campaign, who is currently running for the House of Representatives.

A little bit of context is necessary. Several actors, comedians and singers supported the presidential campaign of our current president. During this presidential period, our health system has suffered greatly, due to the lack of payment owed by the government and the intervention done by the government to several health providers. 

In these last two weeks we have had two very severe and sounded cases of people who have died waiting for their prescriptive (highly expensive) medicine to be delivered. 

Given the above-mentioned situation, Daniel Briceño put together an ad in which he included the image of seven actors, comedians and singers with a sign stating: “We are being killed with the health reform”, to promote his political campaign. His message intends for the public to stop believing in the artists and to analyze where we are and what we need.

The artists are not happy with being included in Briceño’s campaign and that is where the discussion lies. 

The questions then are:

• Can the artists support the standard (presidential campaign) under which the current health system is failing, be held responsible for their support and call out in public?
• As artists and public figures when discussing matters of public interest, can they be not only quoted but also shown, for reference purposes?
• Is the image shown within a political campaign subject to image rights or can such use be understood as an exception due to its use as information?

This history is just beginning, but there are already different positions in this regard. For now, we just hope for the public to make an educated vote and for Colombia to come out of the health system crisis in one piece.