Alongside Gustavo Petro, Francia Márquez will be part of the first left-wing Colombian government in history
Colombia’s vice president-elect Francia Márquez said she will support the former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (EN) in the October elections. A member of the 1st left-wing government in the history of his country, he defends the legalization of drugs and the creation of social policies.
“Lula is the only president who has taken into account the rights of the black population in Brazil. A country where more than 50% of the people are black has to think about government policies in favor of this population”, said Francia in an interview with Folha de S.Paulo published this Thursday (28.Jul.2022).
The Colombian woman was in São Paulo on Tuesday (July 26), where she met with Lula and with leaders of social movements at the headquarters of the Perseus Abramo Foundation, linked to the PT. Afterwards, she traveled to Rio. visited the Marielle Franco Institute.
When asked for not having met with the president Jair Bolsonaro (PL), Francia said that she came to Brazil specifically to “to boost the struggles of black social movements, indigenous movements, peasant movements, environmental movements that help to face the challenge of the environmental crisis, women’s movements for their rights to equality and justice”.
Regarding the relations of his future government with the Brazilian, he states: “the Brazilian people voted for him [em Bolsonaro]. And we respect that decision, even if we don’t agree with his ideas and policies.”.
Francia was the 1st black woman elected vice president of Colombia and the 2nd in the region – in 2018, Epsy Campbell was elected vice president of Costa Rica. The Colombian will take office on August 7, alongside the elected president, Gustavo Petro.
The future vice president compared the electoral race in Brazil with that of Colombia. She cited that she and Petro had to surround themselves with security during the campaign because of security threats. “It was very complicated. We hope that this process in Brazil will be democratic, peaceful, that it will take place in peace and that Brazilians will make their decision.”
If that does not happen, “we would raise our voice in favor of democracy in the region, in favor of peace, in favor of guaranteeing human rights with all the respect that each government and each country deserves”, he stated.
Read other topics covered in the interview:
- BOLSONARO ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY – “A government that does not think about conserving or protecting the Amazon, recognizing that it is the lungs of the world, that much of the biodiversity of the air and life is generated in this place, is a failure.”
- LEFT IN LATIN AMERICA – “If Lula wins, it will be magnificent because not only will we articulate among social movements, but also with a government that will have agendas very similar to those that we will promote from Colombia.”
- GOVERNMENT PRIORITIES – quoted “a big national deal” for peace and policies for “face structural racism”, which include the creation of a commission for historic reparation.
- LEFT IN COLOMBIA – in the face of strong opposition in Congress, the vice president-elect said that expectations are high, but that, “obviously 500 years of oppression, exclusion and violence cannot be transformed into just 4 years”.
- WAR ON DRUGS – “We are talking about new ways to change the anti-drug policy paradigm, which has been ineffective”, said the Colombian woman, who defends the legalization of drugs.
The US maintains a strong partnership with Colombia in the fight against drug trafficking. According to Francia, the partnership between the countries will no longer be focused on security, but on social justice and the fight against climate change. - VENEZUELA – said that Colombia will resume relations with Venezuela and recognize Nicolás Maduro as the country’s president. “Respect [o governo Maduro] as much as I respect the government of Brazil. We certainly don’t share many things, but it is the government that Venezuelans elected, just as Bolsonaro is the president you elected here. So we respect and recognize them.”
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