Colombia’s VP Francia Márquez Blames Racism for Political Marginalization
Francia Márquez, Colombia’s first Black vice-president, has attributed her four years of frustration and strained relationship with President Gustavo Petro to systemic racism within the Colombian state. In a rare interview, Márquez stated that despite her historic election in 2022, she was blocked from assuming leading roles, a pattern she observes among other Black female leaders in the Americas, including former US Vice-President Kamala Harris and Costa Rica’s Epsy Campbell Barr. She argued that this exclusion is a strategic form of racism prevalent across political spectrums. Márquez highlighted that the gallery of former vice-presidents in Bogotá remains exclusively white, underscoring the racial barriers in a nation where at least 10% of the population is Afro-descendant. Her comments come as her term nears its end in August 2026. Previously an environmental activist who won the Goldman Environmental Prize, Márquez described her experience as evidence that the Colombian state structures inherently marginalize Black leaders, limiting their impact regardless of the governing party's ideology.
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Colombia’s VP Francia Márquez Blames Racism for Political Marginalization
Francia Márquez, Colombia’s first Black vice-president, has attributed her four years of frustration and strained relationship with President Gustavo Petro to systemic racism within the Colombian state. In a rare interview, Márquez stated that despite her historic election in 2022, she was blocked from assuming leading roles, a pattern she observes among other Black female leaders in the Americas, including former US Vice-President Kamala Harris and Costa Rica’s Epsy Campbell Barr. She argued that this exclusion is a strategic form of racism prevalent across political spectrums. Márquez highlighted that the gallery of former vice-presidents in Bogotá remains exclusively white, underscoring the racial barriers in a nation where at least 10% of the population is Afro-descendant. Her comments come as her term nears its end in August 2026. Previously an environmental activist who won the Goldman Environmental Prize, Márquez described her experience as evidence that the Colombian state structures inherently marginalize Black leaders, limiting their impact regardless of the governing party's ideology.
The Guardian