Leftist President Gustavo Petro confirmed, unsurprisingly, that his vice-president Francia Marquez would be the first to hold the post of equality minister.
The Colombian President Gustavo Petro signed Wednesday evening during a ceremony in a locality of the Choco Department the law establishing the creation of this ministry which Congress had voted at the end of 2022 by a very large majority.
It will be led by Vice President Francia Marquez. Woman, black, she comes from a very poor village in the department of Cauca, in the south-west of Colombia, one of the most unequal countries in the world. It is to say if Francia Marquez knows what knows what the inequalities are.
First Black Vice President
This 41-year-old woman was decisive in the election of Gustavo Petro last spring, by mobilizing the vote of young people and the most disadvantaged, who traditionally vote little, recalls our correspondent in Bogota, Marie-Eve Detoeuf. And she became the first Afro vice-president in the country’s history. But the Colombian Constitution does not attribute any function to the vice-presidency and Francia Marquez did not intend to sit idly by.
“ This ministry (…) will guarantee the right to equality and equity for all Colombians, and give a voice to those who have been historically excluded and marginalized. “commented Gustavo Petro on Twitter.
” It will be the ministry of the people »
” It will be the ministry of the people “, promised Francia Marquez, announced for months at the head of this new institution which was one of the campaign promises of Gustavo Petro, elected in the summer the first left-wing president in the history of the country on the theme of the “ change “. ” If this government does nothing for equality and fairness, it will have failed “, she announced.
Comienza el Ministerio de Igualdad y Equidad.
Es nuestra meta, que desde cada territorio, hogar y espacio logremos que esta nueva institutionalidad, de cara a la gente menos favorecida, nos permita vivir bien, con dignidad, con derechos, en paz, vivir con alegría, vivir sabroso. pic.twitter.com/tawlojuyOL
— Francia Marquez Mina (@FranciaMarquezM) January 5, 2023
” My task as minister is equality for the women of Colombia, we want women to have economic autonomy, (…) political autonomy, we want women to have guaranteed rights, and we want women have the right to participate in the political process “, she still asserted.
The fight for equality is the fight for the rights of women, sexual minorities, Indians, Afros, marginal territories and the excluded. This means that the future minister has work ahead of her.
(And with AFP)