Friday, March 29

Francia Márquez, the vice president of “the nobody” in Colombia


Correspondent in Colombia

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The night of triumph he wore them. But also the day he voted in the first round, and the morning of the second, when he arrived at the coliseum in the Las Mercedes neighborhood, in the town of Suárez, Cauca, where he was born in 1981. The golden earrings he wears Francia Márquez have the shape of Colombiathe almost complete map of a country that is still surprised by its success, in addition to that of Gustavo Petro, his presidential running mate.

Márquez with Gustavo Pedro, the new leftist president of Colombia – AFP

A few months ago I was wearing other gold earrings, but with the colombian pacific departmentsiano, a region from which it originates and perhaps the most forgotten by the Government. She wears Colombia and represents it in many ways: in her bracelets, necklaces and earrings; in her suits; in the color of her skin and in the racism that judges her lightly; in her efforts to educate herself and study law while working as a domestic worker; in his way of speaking with a certain distance and at the same time with courtesy; in her belonging to her community and in her forced exile; in her love for her land and in the oblivion and exclusion to which she has been subjected.

But above all, Francia Márquez embodies the country in its own history.

At the age of 13, he began his journey as environmental activist. Then opposed the diversion of the Ovejas River to the Salvajina reservoir because it caused a great impact for the region of La Toma, where he lived with his family, of peasant tradition. The community movement was successful and the course of his activism was marked.

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Single mother at 16 (she has two children) and forced to work in the mines and as a domestic worker to survive, in 2014 demanded the Government to curb illegal mining and pollution of the Ovejas river and marched for ten days, leading a group of 50 women who traveled 350 kilometers to reach the Ministry of the Interior. It was the first time that the center of the country and of power learned of its existence. His demand was heard and heeded, even though the contamination of the river was irreversible.

Márquez created the term “the nobody” to designate the Afro, indigenous and peasant communities, ignored by the Colombian elite

She was invited to participate in the negotiations of the Peace Agreement, in 2016, to expose the impact of the armed conflict on the Afro, indigenous and peasant communities, which she calls «the nobody», invisible before the State and the political elitesyes Then its regional leadership took flight, its national presence and international recognition. In 2018, she won the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize, and in 2019was the victim of an attack. A year later she was elected president of the National Peace Council, and in that same 2020 she wrote on her Twitter account that she wanted to be president.

Against all odds, in the popular consultation of the left-wing movements, France brought out the second highest vote after Gustavo Petro, just over eight hundred thousand votes. Although at first it seemed that Petro was not going to comply with the internal agreement, France did not give up the battle and demanded that the compromise be fulfilled for which whoever succeeded Petro in number of votes would be his vice-presidential key. The French phenomenon is estimated at more than a million votes that contributed to achieving the presidency.

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On the day of the election there were many who came out to celebrate that a person like them I would have managed to break the spell to reach the height of power. An older man, in a popular neighborhood of a town in Cauca, represents the feelings of millions. In a TikTok video he is seen going out to the balcony of his apartment, jumping excitedly and crying, he shouts: “First Black Vice President! Long live Colombia, long live France! Thanks God! First Black Vice President…! After 200 years, God!” She clutches her head and begins to cry. It is six in the afternoon on Sunday, June 19, and the National Anthem is playing in the background.

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