Colombia will have for the first time a woman and a black person in the Vice Presidency. Francia Márquez, 40, a lawyer and environmental activist who surprised in the primaries of the left-wing Pacto Histórico coalition, was elected this Sunday (19) in the ticket of Gustavo Petro, the next president of the country.
The new deputy, who was born in Suárez, in Vale do Cauca, and became known for her fight against illegal mining, has the support of a large part of the young electorate. Protagonists of the 2019 and 2021 demonstrations, they demanded more jobs, greater social inclusion and more access to better quality education and health, in addition to protesting against tax increases and the current president, Iván Duque.
Since the 2018 congressional elections, the participation of indigenous and black people in Colombian politics has been growing. The protests drew attention to the fact that Colombia has a predominantly mixed-race population, although until today it has been ruled only by a white elite.
Afro-descendants make up the majority of those living below the poverty line in the country, especially in less developed departments such as Guajira and Chocó. In these places, poverty affects 60% of the population — the Colombian average is 33%. Márquez, a single mother at age 16, shows great empathy for this most vulnerable slice. The lawyer’s personality and rhetorical ability came to provoke some friction for protagonism with Petro in the last weeks before the first round.
Colombia has a large population of internally displaced people, who have had to leave their homes due to clashes between the army, guerrillas and paramilitaries. Of the approximately 7 million “desplazados”, 25% are black. The peace agreement with the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) allowed the implementation of aid policies for this population and their still incipient presence in politics.
Márquez, who often wears African-inspired clothes, has his own stylist, Esteban Sinisterra Paz, who works inspired by clothing from different countries on the continent. She claims her clothes reflect how Afro-Colombians would dress “if they hadn’t been enslaved”.
