Colombian vice presidential candidates participate in debate

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The candidates for Colombian vice president met Wednesday for a debate organized by local media, in which they discussed various issues such as the fight against racism, the fulfillment of the peace agreement and proposals to overcome the economic crisis.

Participating in the debate were Rodrigo Lara Sánchez, the vice presidential candidate of Fico Gutiérrez; Francia Márquez, who is running with Gustavo Petro; Luis Gilberto Murillo, the candidate of Sergio Fajardo; José Luis Esparza, who is running with Ingrid Betancourt; Marelen Castillo, the candidate of Rodolfo Hernández; and Carlos Alberto Cuartas, the candidate of Enrique Gómez.

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Márquez criticized the racism that is still prevalent in Colombian society and politics and, in this sense, acknowledged not only her presence as a candidate, but also the growing number of people elected as deputies and senators in the recent legislative elections.

For this reason, she said, her candidacy represents those she called “the nobodies” of politics: black people and indigenous peoples.

Esparza and Murillo led a discussion on the historical origins of racism in Colombia, which Márquez used to recall the debt that the Colombian state owes in this area to people of African descent and to women in particular.

Márquez also stressed the need for peace and said that, as a victim of the conflict, she continues to bet on peace, which requires the implementation of the agreement already signed and the resumption of negotiations with the armed groups.

She denounced that the violence in the Cauca does not stop and that there have already been more than 20 massacres throughout Colombia this year.

On the other hand, she said that President Iván Duque’s so-called policy of “democratic security” has failed, as shown by the massacres, assassinations of social and indigenous leaders, and attacks in major cities, including Bogotá.

When asked about the possible abolition of the Mobile Riot Control Force (Esmad) that was questioned, the other candidates, with the exception of Márquez and Murillo, who favored it, flatly rejected it.

In this regard, Márquez said that the Esmad was an institution that violated human rights.

The first round of Colombia’s presidential elections will be held on May 29. So far, the candidate of the Historical Pact, Gustavo Petro, is ahead in the polls.