International

Colombia: Woman who called Marquez an “ape” awaits sentencing

Photo: EFE

April 11 |

A woman will be convicted of discrimination and harassment for uttering racist insults against Colombia’s Vice President Francia Marquez, who achieved a milestone by becoming the first Afro-descendant to hold the high office in the country.

Luz Fabiola del Rosario de Fátima Rubiano de Fonseca, 62, accepted on Monday in front of a judge the charges against her – which she can no longer retract – for having called Marquez an “ape” at a demonstration. He will be sentenced at a hearing scheduled for May 30.

Rubiano de Fonseca’s pejorative comments were captured by the press in the midst of an anti-government demonstration in September 2022. “Francia Marquez is an ape…. What education can a black man have, blacks steal, rob, rob and kill”, said the woman in front of the steps of the Congress.

The video quickly went viral on social networks, opening a debate in the country about racism and prompting the Attorney General’s Office to investigate the identity of the woman, who in the video falsely claimed to be Esperanza Castro.

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During Monday’s hearing, the Prosecutor’s Office accused the woman for her “hate speech” that generated “damage to the honor of a population group and directly to the vice president” affecting the right to equality. The prosecutor indicated that by referring to Marquez as an “ape”, the defendant “went beyond her right to free expression”.

Marquez was the victim of discriminatory comments due to her skin color during last year’s electoral campaign when she was derogatorily called “King Kong”. Since her inauguration in August 2022 alongside President Gustavo Petro, Marquez has raised her voice against racism, which, she warns, persists in the country as a “legacy” of colonialism and slavery, which in Colombia was abolished more than 170 years ago.

Related Topics:Colombia discrimination Francia Marquez

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