Smithsonian move reignites 'woke,' 'Marxist' criticism as Latino museum avoids congressional approval

The Smithsonian designated its Arts and Industries Building as the permanent home of the controversial National Museum of the American Latino, a move critics say will allow the institution to move forward without another congressional fight over a museum they argue should not exist.

The decision comes as the Smithsonian faces intensifying scrutiny over its historical exhibits. Mike Gonzalez, a former Bush State Department official and longtime critic of the Latino museum, argued its inaugural exhibition promoted a far-left worldview and said selecting the Arts and Industries Building was an effort to avoid a contentious Capitol Hill battle.

"We need to fire the Smithsonian leadership," Gonzalez said. "We need to get rid of the Latino museum. It needs to be de-authorized. It should not exist."

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Shortly after the interview, his wish partially came true when the Smithsonian's top official, Secretary Lonnie Bunch III, announced his retirement after four decades with the institution.

Gonzalez examined the Latino museum’s inaugural 2022 exhibition, "¡Presente!," in a Heritage Foundation report shared with Fox News Digital. He also testified alongside National Museum of American History Director Anthea Hartig during congressional hearings in July.

The Smithsonian declined comment on Gonzalez’s report or his comments to Fox News Digital.

Gonzalez argues the location decision matters because the Smithsonian already controls A&I, unlike the National Park Service sites previously under consideration.

"They want to use this as kind of a ruse," Gonzalez said, arguing that the institution can avoid another congressional fight by placing the museum on property it already controls.

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Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution Lonnie Bunch listens during an event at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History on February 20, 2026 in Washington, D.C. Mrs. Trump donated her second inaugural dress to the museum, which was designed by fashion designer Herve Pierre, who also designed her first inauguration dress. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Gonzalez examined "¡Presente!," and argued that a series of panels reflected what he described as an anti-Western, anti-American worldview. He pointed to its use of the idea "we didn't cross the border, the border crossed us" as historically inaccurate and said it is a favorite mantra of those on the left who criticize immigration law enforcement.

He said the language casts U.S. westward expansion primarily through the lens of displacement while obscuring the history of Mexicans who remained in territory acquired by the United States and later became American citizens.

"I guess your guest today would count as one of them," he said of himself. "Even though I don't… run around calling myself a Hispanic. I'm a proud American of Cuban heritage."

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An exhibit on the Latin American experience speaks about the "border cross[ing] us," and commentary from expert Mike Gonzalez at top left. (Credit: Mike Gonzalez/Heritage Foundation)

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His report also highlights exhibits dealing with gender identity, immigration and the veneration of Marxist luminaries and political figures. Speaking to Fox News Digital from Israel, he said such attacks on national identity would never "fly."

One exhibit featured in Gonzalez’ report was titled "Jose Julio Sarria: Drag and Politics" and described Sarria as a "legendary drag performer [and] the first openly gay person to run for public office in the U.S." Another panel featured a Cuban transgender HIV/AIDS activist who fled the country during the Mariel Boatlift.

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"They create[d] a hothouse, an incubator of grievances among these 70 million Americans of Hispanic descent," he said, adding that Sarria and another featured figure prove that point.

That example involves Orlando Letelier, a foreign minister under former Marxist Chilean President Salvador Allende.

An exhibit discusses Jose Julio Sarria. (Credit: Mike Gonzalez/Heritage Foundation)

A photograph from the exhibition shows a 1976 quote from Letelier discussing his imprisonment under the Pinochet dictatorship and his later "liberation" in the name of restoring human rights.

"Orlando Letelier has nothing to do with America, other than the fact that he died in a car explosion in Washington D.C., in 1976, but I'm old enough to remember that he was a cause-celebre of the left [then]," he said.

"This is not an American story. The only reason he's there is because the curators who worked in this exhibit betrayed who they are... They're Marxists."

An exhibit features left-wing Chilean official Orlando Letelier. (Credit: Mike Gonzalez)

Gonzalez, who said his father was imprisoned by Cuba’s former "tin-pot dictator" Fulgencio Batista before the leader was overthrown by Fidel Castro in 1959, said the Latino museum also does a rank disservice to the true history of Marxist-Leninist rule in Havana.

"Havana perhaps has not been at war since the British invasion of 1763 and yet it looks like it’s been carpet-bombed: It’s been carpet-bombed by socialism."

The exhibit on Batista omits the oppressive reign of the Castro brothers and also features a cartoon mocking the U.S. for the Reagan-era Iran-Contra affair, the report said. Gonzalez noted the latter aged poorly because the Daniel Ortega regime the U.S. opposed in Nicaragua is back in power decades later and has recently eliminated elections.

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People walk on the National Mall near the Smithsonian Castle in Washington, D.C., on May 10, 2021. President Donald Trump has ordered signs installed outside the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History directing visitors to a White House report criticizing the museum's portrayal of American history. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., a Smithsonian Regent and someone who also fled Cuban socialism, said the institution is a "crown jewel" of the United States and should be held to that standard.

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"The Congressman believes that the Smithsonian should be fair and balanced, aim for truth, and present both sides of the equation," Gimenez spokesman Rey Anthony told Fox News Digital.