Latest news with #FranciaMarquez
France 24
23-05-2025
- Politics
- France 24
Colombian VP accuses government of 'racism, patriarchy'
Francia Marquez, a trailblazing Afro-Colombian activist turned politico, launched an extraordinary broadside at her own colleagues, less than a year before a presidential election. "The role of vice president has not been easy," she told an event to mark the abolition of slavery Wednesday. "It hasn't been an easy task to govern in a country that has a racial state, and that has a government that practices racism and patriarchy." Her comments come as Gustavo Petro -- Colombia's first leftist president -- struggles to carve a legacy before he must leave office next year. His administration has been beset by cabinet resignations, infighting and a stalled legislative agenda. The president has called for a general strike later this month, in an effort to force hostile lawmakers to take his flagship labor and health care reforms. Marquez has had several public disputes with Petro, and was stripped of her role as equality minister earlier this year. But her barbed remarks went beyond previous criticism of Petro's administration. "When I arrived, I arrived with lots of wishful thinking," she said. "But I've had many obstacles put in the way of realizing the hopes and dreams of my people, my community and for this country."
Reuters
14-04-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Colombia's VP calls on former colonial powers to confront past as UN forum opens
Summary Colombia's Marquez urges colonial powers to address slavery's legacy Reparations debate faces opposition from European leaders UN forum discusses AI's role in perpetuating racial biases April 14 (Reuters) - Colombia's Vice President Francia Marquez, an advocate of slavery reparations, urged former colonial powers to take responsibility for their past wrongs as a United Nations forum on people of African descent opened in New York on Monday. "Colonial states, states that fostered... that form of domination based on the definition of race have to assume the responsibility of restoring the human dignity of people of African descent," Marquez told Reuters in an interview. While the issue of reparations has gained momentum worldwide, from Africa to the Caribbean, so has the backlash. Many of Europe's leaders have opposed even talking about reparations. Marquez, a celebrated environmental activist, was elected in 2022 and is Colombia's first Black woman vice president. At least 12.5 million Africans were kidnapped, forcibly transported by European ships and sold into slavery from the 15th to the 19th centuries. Hundreds of thousands were shipped to Colombia. Marquez said many Afro-Colombians still lacked basic rights, such as access to health, housing and higher education, a reality she sees as a legacy of that period: "We continue to experience the damage and consequences of that system." Opponents of reparations argue, among other things, that contemporary states and institutions should not be held responsible for their past. But advocates say action is needed to address the legacies, such as systemic and structural racism, and say that contemporary states still benefit from the wealth generated by hundreds of years of exploitation. At the fourth session of the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent (PFPAD), participants such as Marquez will discuss calls for reparations in the digital age. The forum says systemic inequities risk being replicated in emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI). UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in remarks delivered by his Chef de Cabinet Courtenay Rattray, reiterated his call for reparations, and said there was a need to "eliminate bias" from AI. "Even AI, which holds such promise for humanity, too often mirrors and amplifies the same inequalities and racial biases that have plagued us for centuries," Guterres said. Marquez said although important steps had been taken by the UN in the fight for reparations, such as the creation of the PFPAD, more must be done: "It is not enough to face the challenges of systemic racism the population still faces." Brazil's Minister of Racial Equality Anielle Franco was among other politicians attending the four-day UN forum. Franco said slavery was a crime against humanity and "must be faced with courage".
