Controversies dot the president and vice president of Colombia. To the storm unleashed in the Cabinet of Gustavo Petro, due to the breakup of the coalition, is added the confrontation on social networks between the Colombian president and the attorney general, Francisco Barbosa, who has not hesitated to describe the president as a “dictator”. after his dialectical assault on the division of powers in the country. This comes at a time when the popularity of the Petro is notable. But he’s not the only one who has seen his discharge ratings drop in recent months.
Vice President Francia Márquez has also given a lot to talk about since she took office. According to an Invamer survey, at the end of April, the rate of disapproval of the official’s management in recent months rose to 52%, which is almost 20 points more than the data for March, which stood at 29%. .
Márquez has been exposed to public scrutiny after the House representative for the Centro Democrático party, Hernan Cadavidreleased through his Twitter account a criminal complaint against the vice president for alleged fraud when receiving a Solidarity Income subsidy from the State, when this was intended to support households in poverty during the time of the pandemic .
The rejection of Márquez also increased after the information published about the use of government planes, and its response to said controversy. The official justified the use of the plane for security reasons “although the Colombian elite does not like that,” she said. These words have caused the vice president strong criticism from the opposition due to the alleged cost overruns related to maintenance. “I am the vice president of this country and as long as I am, the State has the responsibility to provide me with all the necessary security guarantees to fulfill my task as vice president,” Márquez told the magazine ‘Semana’.
Controversial trip to Africa
Added to these criticisms are others from journalists and politicians related to the use of money for the activities on the vice president’s agenda. Last week Francia Márquez began an official visit to Africa, in which she planned to stop in South Africa, Ethiopia and Kenya, to sign bilateral agreements on economic cooperation, education, culture, tourism and teaching Spanish.
His trip to Africa has sparked all kinds of comments questioning the logistical value of the tour compared to the economic cost it entails (Márquez is accompanied by a delegation of 53 people). Thus, the senator of the Centro Democrático party, María Fernanda Cabal, accused the vice president of “going to a party” on the African continent and has criticized the trips on Márquez’s agenda, stating that “she understood that being vice president is doing what is whatever he wants using the money of the Colombians”. In her defense she has come out gustavo bolivarformer senator of the Republic of Colombia, who on Twitter described the “persecution” to which the vice president is being subjected as “abhorrent.”
For Márquez, Africa and Latin America are regions that share similar problems, which is why, in his opinion, Colombia has a lot to learn from “a continent of reconciliation.” It is worth mentioning that since 1997, with Ernest Samper in power, no other vice president or president of Colombia has returned to Africa. “It is a return to our Afro roots, a recognition as brothers of the South and a turn of foreign policy to strengthen ties,” said Samper himself on his Twitter account in relation to the vice president’s tour.
On the other hand, in the program ‘Mañanas Blu’ of the Caracol Televisión network, Jeronimo Delgado-Caicedoprofessor and researcher of African Studies, stated that the African continent is not the “poor and decadent” region that has been talked about, but that it is now a “power” that is “generating a necessary economy.”
Likewise, the president of the National Association of Foreign Trade (Analdex), Javier Diaz, He pointed out that the visit is ideal for Colombia to define an export strategy; and highlighted that there are more than 200 Colombian companies that are selling their products in African countries, but that they are individual initiatives.
Although the trip has meant a 15-point drop in popularity, Márquez, Colombia’s first Afro vice president, has the unconditional support of President Petro.