MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Bomb seeking to kill Colombian VP defused

Marquez is a world-renowned environmental activist, and also heads the new Ministry of Equality seeking to improve women's rights and help the poor access healthcare and education

Colombian Vice-president Francia Márquez Tuesday said a plan to kill her had been defused by members of her security team after an explosive device was found and subsequently deactivated.

”Madam Vice President of the Republic, Francia Elena Márquez Mina, confirmed the deactivation and destruction of a high-capacity explosive device (...) on the road leading to her family residence,“ Márquez said on Twitter.

”Members of my security team found a device with more than 7 kilos of explosive material on the road leading to my family residence in the village of Yolombó, in Suarez, Cauca. It was destroyed in a controlled manner by anti-explosive personnel,“ she added.

”The report attached evidence that it was a new attempt on my life,“ Màrque also noted.

”However, we will not stop working, day after day, until we achieve the total peace that Colombia dreams of and needs. We will not give up until it is possible to live in true harmony in every territory,” the country's first black vice president went on.

The 41-year-old vice-president is originally from the municipality of Suarez, a rural area of the department of Cauca, where around 80% of the population lives in some form of poverty. The region is hit by violence and has a presence of National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrillas, Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) dissidents, and criminal gangs linked to drug trafficking and illegal mining, according to Reuters.

Marquez is a world-renowned environmental activist, whose opposition to gold mining in her hometown led her to the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize in 2018. She also heads the new Ministry of Equality and Equity seeking to improve women's rights and help the poor access healthcare and education.