Colombia's Vice President Francia Márquez stated in an interview with The Guardian that the Colombian state is racist and that racism has been constant inside and outside the government. She highlighted barriers faced as a Black woman in leadership. She said she will not run for president due to limitations on her tenure.
In an interview with The Guardian, Vice President Francia Márquez reviewed her tenure months before the end of Gustavo Petro's government. She stated that “the Colombian state is a racist state” and that “this has been a strategy of racism, and it doesn't matter if the government is right-wing or left-wing; it has happened”.
Márquez described internal and external challenges, including discrimination in state entities where officials told Afro-Colombians they “were only there because I was there… ‘They don't deserve to be here’”. She faced criticism for official transport use and trips to African countries to strengthen ties.
On the Ministry of Equality, a key project, she said she structured it but “when I was about to show the results, I was dismissed”, causing her “sadness” and “pain”. Her leadership as a Black woman became “a threat to many”, she noted, amid social media attacks and legal processes.
From Cauca with a background in social leadership, Márquez will not run for president: “Unfortunately, my leadership… was prevented from doing more”. She urged other women to take such spaces and highlighted the symbolic impact of her photo in institutions.
