This is Verónica Alcocer, Petro’s wife and future first lady of Colombia

( Spanish) — Verónica Alcocer, wife of Gustavo Petro, will be the first lady of Colombia from this Sunday. During the campaign, her agenda seemed to transcend her husband. Alcocer affirmed that she is embarking on a personal project “trying to build a name” that has taken her to tour the country for months.

Alcocer was born in Sincelejo, in the department of Sucre in the north of the country, in a right-wing coastal family with a good economic position. She, who recently turned 46, and met Gustavo Petro, 62, at the beginning of the year 2000 when he traveled to Sincelejo to give a lecture at the Caribbean University Corporation. Alcocer was studying Law there, which after several attempts she never completed.

In a interview with Blu Radio account that at first there was practically no exchange of words between them: he arrived, gave a compliment and went on his way. At the conference she was struck by her intelligence. The rest is history.

As Alcocer had been raised in a conservative family, the biggest challenge for the couple seemed to be her father, Jorge Emilio Alcocer, a great admirer of conservative politician Álvaro Gómez, according to his daughter. However, despite Petro’s guerrilla past in the M-19, everything went very well.

That same year they got married. She had a son, Nicolás, and together they had two other daughters: Sofía and Antonella. Petro also had several children from his previous partners.

They have been together for more than 20 years, years in which she, according to her, has dedicated herself mainly to caring for the family (in 2019 His possible candidacy was discussed to the mayor’s office of Sincelejo, but finally did not advance). Until now.

The “personal project of Verónica Alcocer García”

Local media mark the change in Alcocer in 2018, when Petro was competing for the presidency against Iván Duque, regarding what can be seen in this instance. Why was he put “on stage” in this campaign?, he was recently asked in a Caracol interview. And her answer was: “It’s time.”

He affirmed that he has already fulfilled “the work of bringing his children forward” and has embarked on what he calls “Victoria Alcocer’s personal project” in which he tries, according to what he told Caracol, to “build a name” with activity and Own thinking. These can be “parallel” to those of Petro, but independent.

“My little girls, the two big ones, are at university. And Antonella (the little one) is super independent and responsible. So I don’t have to be one hundred percent at home. Now comes another opportunity. If I helped my children, why Why can’t I help the rest of the world? Here the thing is to serve. And if God and life decide that Gustavo is not going to be president, I’m not going to stop helping”, said in an interview with Timein which two words appear that seem to recur constantly: serve and God.

This desire led her to spend more than six months touring the country.

Verónica Alcocer accompanies Gustavo Petro after voting in the elections on May 27, 2018. (Credit: Raúl Arboleda/ AFP/ Getty Images)

Tell stories of Colombia

“I am passionate about telling the stories of Colombia!” says the biography of their social networks. His first Instagram post from him is from January of this year and since then she has shared more than 120 photos and videos. And in many cases these are not spontaneous snapshots but quite the opposite: well-edited pieces in which she combines her own words with those of those she visits and stories, lots of stories.

Women are the main protagonists of their messages on networks, which combine life stories, their tours of different corners of the country, talks with entrepreneurs and the promotion of local traditions and entrepreneurship. It is an account that also has a lot of music and dance.

Who is not often found among the images is Petro. There, and in her “personal project”, she is the protagonist. And she even cultivates her own hashtag: #YoSoyTuAmiga.

There are media that have described it as “sloppy” and his networks realize that: he has, according to the dictionary, “great ease and ease in speaking or in actions.”

From Teresa of Calcutta to Michelle Obama

Who does Veronica Alcocer admire? The names that come up in interviews may give a clue to the type of leadership she would like to exercise if she becomes first lady. In the field of wives of presidents, Alcocer said in Time that his referents were Michelle Obama for her closeness and simplicity, while in Colombia he highlighted Ana Milena Muñoz, wife of former President César Gaviria (1990-1994), for her link to the area of ​​culture.

Outside the spectrum of first ladies, two names come up in an interview with The country: Princess Diana and Mother Teresa of Calcutta. This second is not surprising, since Alcocer puts his faith in God and in Christian values ​​at the center of the message.

What would Verónica Alcocer look like as first lady

Alcocer said to Time that the “agenda” of his work is marked by “the needs of the people”. He considers that the role of the first lady has been seen as “extremely distant” and insists and promise contact and closeness.