Colombia’s first Afro vice visits her town after assuming power

First modification: 08/14/2022 – 01:52Last modification: 08/14/2022 – 01:50

A majority Afro-majority crowd honored her with songs, drums and traditional ceremonies at a coliseum in the municipality of Suárez, in the department of Cauca.

“Today is a very special day for me, being here in my municipality receiving so much care, so much love,” said the 40-year-old woman, with braided hair and a colorful dress.

Hand in hand with former senator and former guerrilla Gustavo Petro, Márquez defeated the white elites and with him is part of the first leftist government in Colombia.

“It is difficult as women to reach this space of political representation. But if we are black, indigenous, peasant, impoverished women, the fight is much more difficult,” she launched on a platform with her fist raised.

Born into a poor family, Márquez became a single mother at 16, fled her homeland under threat of death, cleaned houses to survive and studied law before making her way into politics.

In 2019 they wanted to kill her with grenades and rifle bursts for defending the water of her community, in a region where armed groups impose their law, financed by drug trafficking and illegal mining.

A year earlier, he had received the Goldman Prize, also known as the Nobel Prize for the environment.

“It won’t be easy (…) But we hope to count on you, to hold hands with you to move Colombia forward,” cried Márquez.

Despite the fact that almost 10% of the 50 million Colombians recognize themselves as black, Afro peoples live on the fringes of politics, plunged into poverty (30%) and surrounded by violence.

In the midst of the dirty war that the presidential campaign went through, Márquez was the center of a racist and classist fury fueled by social networks.

Several local personalities launched attacks on him related to his skin color and poor background.

“That from all corners of Colombia we enjoy this new beginning in the political era. Never before have blacks in Colombia had this opportunity,” Manuel Ocoro, an Afro-community leader who attended the event, told AFP.

In a country where violence erupts from time to time despite the peace agreement signed with the dissolved FARC guerrilla in 2016, Márquez opted to fight drug trafficking and inequality.