First black woman to occupy the vice-presidency in Colombia, Francia Marquez began Friday, May 12 an official visit to Africa, a first. The tour, which is intended to be historic, nevertheless unleashes criticism and ridicule from the right-wing opposition, which considers it unnecessary and costly. The internationalists judge it “strategic”. After South Africa, Mme Marquez will travel to Kenya and Ethiopia.
“Like all Latin American countries, Colombia has long turned its back on Africa,” explains Professor Jeronimo Delgado, Head of African Studies at Externado University. He recalls that “Clichés about Africa are still widespread in Colombia”. For son colleague Mauricio Jaramillo, professor at the University of the Rosary in Bogota, “Colombia is a country that has historically been very closed in on itself, which has always favored its relations with the United States. The fact that today a black vice-president assumes the representation of the country obviously contributes to the virulence of the reactions”.
In this country governed on the right for two hundred years, the coming to power in August 2022 of Gustavo Petro, who was a guerrilla in his youth, and his vice-president, an Afro activist, environmentalist and feminist, marked a break. “A descendant of enslaved Africans, Francia Marquez was born into a rural and modest family. That is to say that she represents everything that the Colombian political elite has never been”, summarizes Mr. Delgado. Strong personality, Mme Marquez responds bluntly when she feels attacked. His abruptness passes for resentment. It has crystallized since its arrival in power the fear, the contempt, even the hatred of part of the right.
“Colonial Vision”
The controversy over his visit to Africa began even before it was officially confirmed. At the beginning of April, the press reveals that around sixty people – presidents of chambers of commerce, business leaders, academics or artists – will be on the official trip. It’s an outcry. At the beginning of May, an opposition MP assures us that the official visit will cost, in fuel, 1.7 billion pesos (about 340,000 euros). New outcry. Social media is going wild. Why such a large delegation? Why so much money for a continent like Africa?
According to Senator Maria Fernanda Cabal, the vice-president would have left “Party in Africa”. “Costly Safari”, headlined the right-wing weekly Week. “Nobody ever suspected that a president on an official visit to the United States wanted to go to Disneyland”sighs Mr. Jaramillo. “The subliminal message is that you can go to Europe, but not to Africa”, said Mr. Petro on his Twitter account. According to the Head of State, the reactions of the opposition are “pure and simple racism”. Mme Mark shares the analysis. “I have been to Europe and the United States before, and no one has looked at how much I have spent”underlined the Vice-President before her departure, denouncing “the colonial vision” of his political opponents.
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