Francia Márquez, future vice-president of African descent in Colombia?

For the first time in its history, Colombia could be led by a left-wing president. Gustavo Petro, a former guerrilla and old hand in Colombian politics, is the favorite in the polls. But the real star of this Colombian electoral campaign is the woman he has chosen as his vice-president: Francia Marquez.
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Francia Marquez, 40 years old, is an Afro-Colombian activist from a rural background. In a country torn by social inequalities, she has become in a few months the idol of a whole generation, even if she has never held an elective mandate.

Tuesday morning in Siloé, poor district of Cali and high place of the social protest which shook Colombia last year. In the small community room, Francia Marquez knows she is on conquered ground. This neighborhood is mostly inhabited by excluded, marginalized people. I am like you. I come from a disadvantaged hamlet. I come from the popular struggles. And I decided to enter politics because I believe it is the only way to change this country, » she says.
Former housekeeper

A single mother of two children, Francia Marquez used to be a cleaning lady. Her fight to defend her native village in Cauca from illegal mines earned this environmental and feminist activist the Goldman Prize in 2018. She decided to become a lawyer. A year later, she escaped an assassination attempt.

Today, her candidacy for vice president is forcing Colombia to confront its old demons… of color, class and sexism. « She represents change. In the Colombian society until now this woman would have been only a domestic worker. And now she will be our vice president. This is huge! In Colombia, an Afrodescendant woman is about to come to power », explains a young nurse who came to listen to her.