Vice President Francia Márquez reflected on her time in President Gustavo Petro's administration. In an explosive speech, she went from being a"heroine" to a "traitor"; she said she "wanted to scream"; she claimed to be a victim of "delegitimization, sabotage, and exclusion"; and she explained how she has confronted racism: "The idea was promoted that because I'm black, I'm sure I'll steal."
Márquez spoke about all this in a speech commemorating the International Day of Women and Girls of African Descent, which took place at the Universidad Libre de Cali on July 25.
"I have a fairly long speech. I've been silent for several days, so today I decided to speak," he concluded.
These were the 10 harshest phrases he said:
- "A few years ago, I was the voice that traveled across the country, I was the face of hope, the Afro-descendant woman who brought the echo of the rivers, of humble homes, of popular knowledge, of calloused hands, of the women who clean other people's houses while dreaming of a dignified life. But I soon went from being the political phenomenon, the heroine, to being the traitor."
- "We are witnessing Afro-descendant leaders participating in power dynamics, in governments that call themselves progressive but still bear the marks of a racial state.
- "I want to be clear; I am not here to remain silent. I am not going to pretend that it doesn't hurt, that it doesn't tire me, that it doesn't wear me down. I want to scream. I want to tell how this country drags us into its narratives of exclusion, suffocates us with its mistrust, and then blames us for not breathing."
To continue her intervention, she posed this question:"How do you remove a Black woman from power in a contemporary democracy? With narratives that are used as a prelude to explosives and bullets."
According to her, the narratives she has been subjected to are based on labels such as"incapable, untrustworthy, disloyal, and traitor." In fact, she recalled two episodes she experienced.
- "The country has not yet forgotten when an elderly woman, who in Bogotá and from the Plaza de Bolívar, encouraged by the speeches that politicians were making in the middle of a march against the Government, ended up denying the human condition of black people and took us away and equated us with animals".
- "We also remember the case of a young man, paradoxically a victim of the violence in this country, intoxicated by the hatred that was distilled in the social networks, ended up wishing that a bomb would be placed at the headquarters of the vice presidency and in that way end my life."
In this regard, the vice president reiterated in her speech that they have tried to"erase a black woman from the political spectrum."
Then, she delved into other episodes that, she said, she experienced as Minister of Equality, a portfolio she left amid tensions with President Petro :
- "I was given the mission of creating an institution without structure, without resources, without support. They told me 'Do it yourself.' And when I argued that three vice-ministries were too many, they demanded five and I did it despite the systematic blockade."
- "They accused me of not executing when they never gave me an instrument to do so."
- "The idea was promoted that, because I am black, I am sure to steal without having touched a peso.They treated me like a criminal because the color of my skin, sadly for many, makes me guilty."
- "They demanded that I be submissive and when I demanded respect they called me arrogant."
The vice president also wanted to address her role during the campaign, in contrast to what happened once she became a member of the government:
- "We are useful for winning elections, but not for governing." "We are wanted for photo ops, but not for decision-making.""We are wanted for obedience, and if we don't obey, then comes punishment, political violence, cancellation, and public dehumanization.""I understand why so many people of African descent who have come to power remain silent, not because they lack ideas or the ability to govern, but because the price of speaking is high."
At the end of his speech, which lasted about 25 minutes, he left some other reflections:
- "Being a black woman, being black women, should not make us suspect."
- "This country needs to look in the mirror and that mirror has my face, the face of you, women of African descent, Raizal, Palenqueras, Indigenous, Ron, peasants, lesbians, trans, women from popular sectors, diverse women in all their beauty and power. It has the faces of those who work tirelessly every day to make their dreams come true."
Vice President Francia Márquez closed her speech by assuring her that she "remains firm" and "with a strong heart."
