This Wednesday, March 23, as many already suspected, the candidate Gustavo Petro confirmed that France Marquez Will be your vice presidential ticket, after she was the third most voted candidate in the last inter-party consultations.
Despite the fact that Márquez has been on the political and public discussion agenda since he began his run for the presidency, in addition to reaching large audiences for his participation in the debates that have taken place in recent months, they are many who are unaware of the trajectory of the political leader.
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Who is Francia Marquez?
Born in Suárez, Cauca, France, she has cultivated a career around the defense of the environment, human rights and against racism. From La Toma, corregimiento of Cauca, the social leader undertook the march against illegal mining and the delivery of mining titles from the National Government to multinationals, as her territory is one of the red and most forgotten areas of the country, where extractions have been the cause of the forced displacement of communities.
After graduating as an agricultural technician from the National Apprenticeship Service (SENA), Francia continued his professional studies until graduating from the Law School of the Santiago de Cali University.
However, while he was in his professional studies (2009), Márquez opposed the displacement of his community when mining permits were transferred to companies such as Anglogold Ashanti, which is why he filed a guardianship and in 2010, the Constitutional Court ruled in his favorsuspended the eviction and also the permits that were granted to the companies.
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The harvest of these struggles led her to be worthy of the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2018, as well as being among the BBC’s 100 most influential women in 2019.
However, France has also been the target of threats by armed groups, which is why he had to leave his place of origin, but which also made him join politics to continue his defense.
In 2018 she was launched to the House of Representatives with the endorsement of the Yurumanguí River Community Council and in 2020 she was president of the National Council for Peace and Coexistence, authority to monitor and comply with the Peace Agreements.
Finally, in 2021, she launched her goal of reaching the presidency and although at first she thought of running as an independent candidate, she admitted that she would not be able to collect the necessary signatures. However the Alternative Democratic Pole gave her the endorsement for the past inter-party consultations to which she also came as a candidate for the Historic Pact.
Despite the fact that Gustavo Petro was the one who won by a large difference in votes, Márquez surpassed the political elites by overcoming consultations on candidates such as Sergio Fajardo, Alejandro Gaviria, among others, who have had extensive experience in public office.
