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Bogota (AFP) – The vice president of Colombia, Francia Márquez, the first Afro-descendant to assume that position, denounced on Tuesday a plan to attempt on her life with an explosive device that was deactivated by her security scheme.
“Members of my security team found a device with more than 7 kilos of explosive material on the road that leads to my family residence,” in the southwest of the country, Márquez denounced on his Twitter account.
The device “was destroyed in a controlled manner by anti-explosive personnel” from the police,” added the vice president, who described the incident as “a new attempt to attempt against my life.”
In 2019 -before assuming office- he was the target of an attack with grenades and rifle bursts for his work as an environmental activist in the department of Cauca, where he still resides and where the explosive device deactivated this morning was planted.
“It is a plastic bag whose interior contains a high-power explosive substance based on ammonium nitrate, powdered aluminum and (…) nail tips,” details a report from the security scheme of the vice presidency released by Márquez.
The escorts discovered the explosives after being alerted about “suspicious persons” and “foreign elements” on the road that leads to the village of Yolombó, in the municipality of Suárez, where a visit by the vice president was scheduled.
“Due to the characteristics and location of the personal intelligence and security artifact, it was concluded that it was an obvious attack against the vice president,” the official report stated.
Together with President Gustavo Petro, Márquez is part of the first left-wing government in Colombian history, which seeks to defuse the six-decade armed conflict by negotiating with a mix of armed groups that continue to operate after the agreement that disarmed the powerful FARC guerrilla in 2017. .
His predecessor, the conservative Iván Duque, was the target of an attack in June 2021, when unknown persons fired bursts of rifles at the helicopter in which he was traveling.
in sight
Petro and Márquez carried out their campaign amid tight security measures, in a country plagued by political assassinations. Five presidential candidates were assassinated during the 20th century.
At the end of May of last year, on the eve of the first presidential round, the then-candidate was pointed at with a laser during a public campaign event and her security team jumped onto the stage to surround her with armored shields.
An 18-year-old man turned himself in to authorities, explaining that he pointed a laser he bought online at Márquez.
In August, a few days after Petro took office, a vehicle from the presidential outpost came under fire while traveling on a highway in the north-east of the country. A member of the entourage was detained and released hours later by an armed group that was not identified.
The vice president has also been the target of a cascade of racist insults since taking office.
In September of last year, the prosecutor’s office opened an investigation into a woman who called Márquez an “ape” during a demonstration by opponents.
Born into a poor family, Márquez became a single mother at 16, fled her land under threat of death, cleaned houses to survive, and studied law before making her way into politics.
convulsed region
The explosive was found in one of the most violent departments in Colombia.
Ex-FARC rebels, dissidents of the peace pact, and guerrillas from the ELN – the last recognized insurgency in the country – are fighting over the income from drug trafficking in Cauca, where coca leaf crops, the main ingredient of cocaine, abound.
The dissidents are part of the six-month bilateral ceasefire proclaimed by Petro on New Year’s Eve.
The truce announcement initially included the ELN, but the rebels denied the government last week, alleging that the ceasefire was not part of the first round of peace negotiations they are holding with executive delegates.
In response, the executive ordered to resume the persecution against the 3,500 organization guerrillas.
The talks will enter their second cycle at the end of this month.
