This latest attack on Márquez’s life, is a brazen attempt by right-wing factions in the country to destabilise and intimidate Márquez as she fights for democratic transformation in her country.
For the first time in its history, Colombia has a government that stands for total peace instead of civil war, invests in health and education for its people instead of weapons, and fights for equality for workers, women, Indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities.
Francia Márquez is leading this effort, not only in Colombia, but the world over, by taking on global battles like climate change and deepening the country’s regional integration in Latin America to bring these solutions to life.
As a Black, working class leader from the countryside, Vice-President Márquez represents a threat to right-wing forces in the country, who have for decades used violence and intimidation to maintain their power.
The discovery of a highly explosive device near Márquez’s family home, comes just four months after a would-be assassin’s pistol failed to fire at close range on Argentina’s Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.
It is clear, this is part of a pattern of violence against the Left and its women leaders in Latin America.
We, parliamentarians, feminist scholars, and activists express our solidarity and reiterate our support for Francia Márquez. An attack on Márquez is an attack on all of us — it shall not stand.
Signatories
Zarah Sultana (UK)
Jeremy Corbyn (UK)
Nanjala Nyabola (Kenya)
Irene Montero (Spain)
Karol Cariola (Chile)
Antonia Orellana (Chile)
Renata Avila (Guatemala)
Nikhil Dey (India)
Aruna Roy (India)
Cornel West (US)
Aya Chebbi (Tunisia)
Jean Dreze (India)
Nadine Gasmán (Mexico)
Manuela d’Ávila (Brazil)
Idoia Villanueva (Spain)
Maite Mola (Spain)
Varsha Gandikota (India)
Ahdaf Soueif (Egypt)
Kali Akuno (United States)
Sacha Llorenti (Bolivia)
Slavoj Zizek (Eslovenia)
Selay Ghaffar (Afghanistan)
Noam Chomsky (US)
Harry Halpin (US)
Kavita Naidu (Australia)
Zitto Kabwe (Tanzania)
Leïla Chaibi (France)
Solomon Yeo (Solomon Islands)
Juliano Medeiros (Brazil)
Adriana Salvatierra (Bolivia)
Julia Perié (Argentina)
Gael Yeomans Araya (Chile)
Juan Carlos Monedero (Spain)
Martín Clavijo (Uruguay)
María Elene Naddeo (Argentina)
Isabel Serra (Spain)
Silvina Romano (Argentina)
Ricardo Canese (Paraguay)
Mary Marin Navarro (Costa Rica)
Natalia Souto (Argentina)
Martha García Alvarado (Mexico)
Mónica Macha (Argentina)
Magui Fernández Valdez (Argentina)
Dolores Gandulfo (Argentina)
Paola Pabón (Ecuador)
Cristina Faciaben (Spain)
Ione Belarra (Spain)
Aida Garcia Naranjo Morales (Peru)
Bettiana Díaz (Uruguay)
Baltasar Garzón (Spain)
Fernando Collizzolli (Argentina)
Mariana Janeiro (Brasil)
Javier Juárez (Argentina)
Xadeni Méndez (México)
Jimena Bucci (Argentina)
Alejandra Outeda (Argentina)
Ariel Navarro (Argentina)
Esther Miranda (Spain)
María Luisa Ortega (Ecuador)
Ana Caistor Arendar (UK)
Organización Política Simón Bolívar (Argentina)
Esperanza Martínez (Paraguay)
Manu Pineda (Spain)
