A year after making fun of her nation’s vice president’s race, a woman from Bogota pleaded guilty to harassment and discrimination.
In 2022, the woman was captured on camera using a racist slur when speaking to Vice President Francia Márquez of Colombia, an offence that carries a maximum sentence of three years in jail.
As the first person of African ancestry to hold this office, Márquez created history and has endured racist slurs during her tenure.
Small business owner Luz Fabiola Rubiano is an illustration of this kind of racialized abuse. Márquez and other Afro-Colombians were accused of having their rights against discrimination violated by Rubiano’s nasty stereotype, which also compromised such rights.
The woman entered a guilty plea to all charges on Monday, April 10, according to The Associated Press.
Luz Fabiola Rubiano de Fonseca
Alias esperanza Castro
Se ha entregado pic.twitter.com/VyNxjdbfYf— Vasquez Nashtakuaz ✍️ (@luciovasquez06) September 29, 2022
Rubiano was captured on camera demonstrating in front of the Colombian Congress in September 2022. The woman expressed her racist sentiments towards Márquez and her Afro-Colombian neighbours when questioned about the administration.
“Apes are now in charge of us,” Francia Márquez is an ape; no matter how much education Black people have, they still rob, assault, and kill.
The video rapidly went viral on social media, and when the newly elected vice president learned about it, she had her attorneys submit a complaint, which sparked an inquiry by the top prosecutors in the nation.
In the South American nation, it is illegal to promote racial hatred.
In 2011, Juan Manuel Santos, the president of Colombia at the time, signed a historic anti-discrimination bill. Citizens who are subjected to acts of discrimination on the grounds of their ethnicity, race, gender, sexual orientation, or nationality are protected by this statute.
According to the National Democratic Institute, if someone violates the civil rights of these people, they could face prison time, house detention, or parole.
The law is “a form of justice,” according to President Santos, who also noted that “it was time to get tough on this and to ensure the protection of the rights of those discriminated against.”
Márquez won the election as President Gustavo Petro’s running mate in August 2022, becoming Colombia’s first black vice president.
Afro-Colombians, also known as Black Colombians, make up around 6% of the country’s population and, like Black Americans, are disproportionately subjected to police-involved violence, have limited access to opportunities in school and other areas, and live in poverty.
According to statistics, 77% of Afro-Colombians are either poor or at risk of becoming poor.
