Far-left Vice President of Colombia Francia Márquez criticized the government of President Gustavo Petro in an interview published by Caracol Televisión on Sunday evening, airing personal grievances against her own Marxist government.
Márquez said that her life and those of her family have all worsened ever since became vice president, stressing, “I used to live well before, I came here to suffer. It has been a very difficult struggle.”
The Colombian vice president, a longtime radical leftist activist, was highly praised in international mainstream media after she became Colombia’s first “Afro-descendant” vice president in 2022, completing President Petro’s electoral ticket. Petro himself is a former member of the Marxist M19 terrorist group and an apologist for the guerrilla. At press time, Petro’s administration is in the first weeks of its fourth and final year. He cannot be reelected, as per Colombia’s constitution. Petro has repeatedly threatened to call a constituent assembly to rewrite the nation’s core legal text to perpetuate himself in power.
Although Márquez and Petro appeared to maintain friendly ties throughout their electoral campaign and during the first years of Petro’s administration, Márquez has since distanced herself from Petro. Márquez appeared to stop supporting Petro after he hosted a disastrous six-hour government meeting this year broadcast live on national television in which he defended cocaine and mused about Greek eroticism, among other controversial topics. Márquez has publicly accused the Colombian government of engaging in racism.
Caracol interviewed Márquez in the city of Cali, where she spends most of her time when she does not have to be in the capital city of Bogotá for government-related business. She detailed some of her frustrations with the Colombian government’s lack of achievements, her tensions with government officials, the criticism she has received — including from her own family — and the impact it all has had on her personal life.
Márquez explained to Caracol some of the “obstacles” that the Colombian government imposed on her as she attempted to create the Colombian Equality Ministry, a position started in June 2023. Márquez served as the inaugural equality minister until Petro removed her from the position in February. Márquez reportedly remained as vice president because it is a democratically elected position.
Presently, the equality minister position is occupied by Juan Carlos Florián, a former pornographic actor and longtime friend of Petro that refers to himself as “female” because, according to him, he is a “person and a faggot” but “is not gay.” Last week, in a separate interview with RCN, Márquez confirmed that Petro had originally ordered her to appoint Florián as vice minister for diversity, which she refused. In response, Petro accepted her resignation from the ministry and temporarily replaced her with Carlos Rosero, an “Afro-descendant” activist.
In July, during another broadcast, Petro, in a message reportedly addressed to Márquez, ranted about the dispute, declaring, “no black person tells me that a porn actor should be excluded.” Rosero, who also happens to be black, was present in the room at the time.
“For me, having experienced racism and knowing what racism means, it was painful, having accompanied him [Petro] in mobilizing the Afro population,” Márquez told Caracol, referring to Petro’s remarks.
Márquez detailed that her position as vice president caused her to have problems with her mother, particularly after Márquez had to ask her to move from her birthplace, the municipality of Suárez in the Cauca department.
“At that point, I also had to tell my mother to come from Suárez. She didn’t think she would leave her house angry, either. She started treating me badly and saying, ‘I didn’t tell you to get involved in that,’” Márquez said. “She still tells me, ‘My life changed and became hell because you got involved in that.’”
The Colombian vice president asserted that her entire family has felt the rejection and attacks she receives on social media, and added that her children “are not very happy” because of the attacks. She also explained that she has sisters that work in family homes and are treated badly because of their relation with her.
“They have had to refuse and say, ‘No, I don’t know her.’ It has been painful for my family to protect themselves,” Márquez said.
Márquez also referred to the years-long criticism due to her frequent use of state-owned helicopters to go from her workplace to her residence. Márquez said that she did not do it “out of vanity” and asserted, “I want those who know me to know that I suffer from vertigo.”
According to Márquez, Petro once told her that she has to “use the state’s tools” when she asked him about the risks of using a helicopter.
As part of the criticism against Márquez over her helicopter use, Colombian artist Manu Victoria released “The Helicopter” in 2023, a song that criticized the Colombian vice president, using samples of her voice taken from past interviews when she talked about the subject.
Márquez said that her nephews “love that song,” to the point that she has danced with them while listening to it, and asked, “What should I do? Have fun with my family in the midst of so much pain and suffering. What else?”
Towards the end of the interview, Caracol asked her about reelection amid President Petro’s threats to rewrite the constitution and modify the one-term limit.
“I am a lawyer, I respect the political constitution and our constitution. It is an option that is in the air, yes, but we have to talk about reality,” Márquez said. “And the reality is that the political constitution does not allow re-election. So we were elected for four years and it is up to us to comply and move forward as much as we can in these four years.”
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here
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