Colombia Vice President Francia Marquez Targeted With Roadside Bomb in Apparent Assassination Attempt

Colombia's Vice President Francia Marquez, the country's first black female vice president, claimed that there was an assassination attempt against her after her protection detail found a bomb near her family home.

The vice president took to social media to announce that there was an attempt on her life. She claimed that the roadside bomb was planted on the road leading to her family home in the village of Yolombo in Suarez, Cauca in southwest Colombia.

The BBC pointed out that before she became Colombia's vice president, another assassination attempt targeted her in 2019 as she was then an environmental activist fighting big mining companies. She had been facing death threats all her life; this was just the latest one.

Colombian Police Got Rid of Roadside Bomb Near Vice President Francia Marquez's Home

The explosive was found by a bomb-sniffing dog that patrolled the area near the VP's home. It was described as a 7kg (15lb) bomb buried next to a rural road. It was made of ammonium nitrate, powdered aluminum, and shrapnel. The device was hidden inside a plastic bag, according to authorities, and the shrapnels used were nails.

According to the Associated Press, Colombian anti-explosives safely got rid of the bomb by blowing it up using a controlled explosion on Monday.

The vice president remained defiant despite the unsuccessful attempt on her life. She released a statement on social media, saying, "We will not stop working day by day to achieve the total peace that Colombia dreams of and requires."

Marquez was elected last September as President Gustavo Petro's running mate. They ran on a platform of peace and equality, promising to continue negotiations with the ELN rebels, increase taxes on the wealthy, and increase government spending.

Vice President Francia Marquez Described as a Climate Hero

Vice President Marquez's rise from poverty was described as many as a true success story. She went from a life of poverty as she started out cleaning homes before fighting for her community's ancestral land rights at the age of 13.

She soon rose to prominence as one of Latin America's most prolific environmental activists, fighting for Afro-Colombians and indigenous communities against big land owners, mining companies, and illegal miners. One Earth even called her a "Climate Hero" as she continued her environmental advocacy as Colombia's second most powerful person.

She became an icon in the Afro-Colombian community, promoting cultural and land rights, as well as educating farmers in her native Cauca region on sustainable agricultural techniques. Her ties to the Afro-Colombian community also guaranteed votes from black Colombians, securing the victory for Petro.

She is also a big women's rights activist, leading many women's marches as well as having plenty of advocacies centering on women in Colombia.

On her way to the vice presidency, she overcame not just poverty but the classism, racism, and sexism that are prevalent in the country.

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Written by: Rick Martin

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