Photo: LUISA GONZALEZ/POOL VIA AP/PICTURE ALLIANCE / Deutsche Welle
“Members of my security team found an artifact with more than 7 kilos of explosive material on the road that leads to my family residence”, in the southwest of the country, denounced Francia Márquez, the first Afro-descendant in the vice presidency, on her Twitter account. The device “was destroyed in a controlled manner by police anti-explosive personnel,” added the vice president, who described the incident as “a new attempt to attempt” on her life.
In 2019, before taking office, was attacked with grenades and rifle bursts for his work as an environmental activist in the department of Cauca, where he still resides and the deactivated device was planted this morning.
Ammonium nitrate, powdered aluminum and metal nails
“It is a plastic bag whose interior contains a high-power explosive substance based on ammonium nitrate, powdered aluminum and (…) nail tips,” details a report from the security scheme of the vice presidency released by Márquez.
The escorts discovered the explosives after being alerted to “suspicious persons” and “foreign elements” on the road that leads to the village of Yolombó, in the municipality of Suárez, where a visit by the vice president was scheduled.
“Due to the characteristics and location of the artifact (…) it is an obvious attack against the vice president,” says the official report, which does not provide information on the possible authors of the plan. Together with President Gustavo Petro, Márquez is part of the first left-wing government in Colombian history, which seeks to defuse the six-decade armed conflict by negotiating with a mix of armed groups that continue to operate after the agreement that disarmed the powerful FARC guerrilla in 2017. .
“We condemn the attempt against the life of the Vice President (…) a recognized human rights defender, victim of several attacks for her work”, the Representative in Colombia of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Juliette de Rivero, expressed on Twitter.
At the end of May of last year, on the eve of the first presidential round, the then-candidate was pointed at with a laser during a public campaign event and her security team jumped onto the stage to surround her with armored shields.
Laser attacks and shots against the car
An 18-year-old man turned himself in to authorities, explaining that he pointed a laser he bought online at Márquez. In August, a few days after Petro took power, a vehicle from the presidential outpost came under fire while traveling on a highway in the north-east of the country.
The vice president has also received a cascade of racist insults since he took office. In September of last year, the prosecutor’s office opened an investigation into a woman who called Márquez an “ape” during a demonstration by opponents.
Born into a poor family, Márquez became a single mother at the age of 16, fled her land under threat of death, and studied law before making her way into politics.
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