On account of the goings-on of politics, the 800,000 votes he got France Marquez As a presidential candidate today they became 15 functions assigned to her position as vice president. But the lack of resources to carry out these new tasks and the removal to give her more power within the Executive could limit her room for maneuver in the Government of Gustavo Petro.
Although the vice president came out to say that she is not a woman who allows herself to be “isolated”, there are voices that warn that this is the effect that the recent decisions that the Head of State made around her position are generating.
The new functions of Márquez are consigned in a decree signed by the director of the Administrative Department of the Presidency (Dapre), Mauricio Lizcano. And Lizcano was the first to break the news: after a month and two days, they finally assigned a roadmap to the vice president for the next four years.
Several of its tasks have to do with protecting the rights of minorities and historically excluded populations. However, some show gas orders that do not provide further details of how they could be implemented.
For example, they “trust” the “inter-institutional mission” to coordinate different actions so that the right to equality prevails in Colombia. In turn, they ask you to make efforts to guarantee the rights of the communities of the Colombian Pacific. Basically, it will have to be verifying that the State complies with the population what was agreed in the past, for example, after the civic strike in Buenaventura, Valle del Cauca.
Among other things, it is also expected to be at the forefront of the design and implementation of public policies for the disabled, the LGBTIQ+ population, and women who are dedicated to care work – domestic activities that have historically been unpaid.
Although the regulations give her more assignments than her predecessor, former vice president Marta Lucía Ramírez, she still does not give her enough teeth -and the extra budget- to carry out her work.
(Keep reading: Polo Polo apologized, but attacked Francia Márquez again).
Without Ministry of Equality
The lack of weight of the Vice Presidency was evident with the past government, when former President Iván Duque entrusted the Chancellery to his then Vice President Marta Lucía Ramírez.
Despite the fact that Petro and Márquez have been staunch opponents of the past government, this idea still resonated with them. That is why they agreed that it would be Márquez who would occupy the Ministry of Equality, a new portfolio within the Executive that was proposed by the campaign.
The intention was for this Ministry to become the maximum articulator of all social public policies in the country. That is to say, that it not only be limited to the role of creating policies with a gender perspective, which will also be its strong point.
The Government of President Petro, however, has been deflating the project of this ministerial portfolio. So much so that it is not among the priorities of the Executive in Congress, since the bill that will create it is still not filed.
In any case, sources from the Vice Presidency told this newspaper that the draft of the articles is already being reviewed in the offices of the Presidency and that it had been ready since last July. Its purpose, they pointed out, is that it is already rolling in Congress this year.
The president, however, has put a limit on the scope that this ministry will have in recent statements. For example, he has already ruled out the possibility that the Ministry of Equality take over the functions of the Department of Social Prosperity, which manages a hefty budget of more than $6.6 billion annually.
“I did not want the DPS to be the Ministry of Equality because that is like saying that neoliberalism was right and that then, at the tip of alms for the poor, equality is built. We progressive forces have never wanted that,” President Petro assured.
The patience of France
Peter has taken other decisions that have been interpreted as rudeness to the vice president.
This same week, for example, Márquez was the great absentee in the meeting that the president held with the bench of the Historical Pact in which he outlined what his great legislative bets will be and how he intends to distribute the new General Budget of the Nation.
But perhaps the most controversial episode of all was that of the lawyer Cielo Rusinque, who became head of the Department of Social Prosperity (DPS).
Although it was initially expected that Márquez would occupy that position -due to the juicy budget and the decision-making power he has within social public policies-, Petro opted for Rusinque, a seasoned figure from the Petrista core.
Rusinque was even criticized for his closeness to several figures on that political shore who were accused of alleged sexual violence, such as the sociologist Fabián Sanabria, whom he defended both on networks and in court.
This designation in the DPS, in addition, was considered rude because it was expected that this department would be merged with the future Ministry of Equality, which, again, is Petro’s great promise for Márquez.
Despite everything, in an interview with Noticias Caracol, the vice president ruled out that she is fighting with the president. “It isn’t true. I think a lot of rumors are being heard,” Márquez said. And she pointed out that they have built a relationship of “empathy” with the president