Colombian scholar: VP Marquez invited the Sussexes because she wants attention

When the Duke and Duchess of Sussex did their tour of Nigeria, every racist white man and white woman in Britain was called upon to give on-camera interviews about the Sussexes and Nigeria. Those racists were not content to simply denigrate and mock Harry and Meghan. Of course not – they also felt it necessary to denigrate Nigeria and Nigerians. Those people showed their whole asses and there was a lot of pushback on social media. I’m sure it will be the same for Harry and Meghan’s Colombian tour – suddenly, “royal experts” will become self-styled experts in South America and internal Colombian politics. Interestingly enough, the Independent spoke to an actual Colombian political scholar to get the inside dish on why Colombia’s vice president extended the invitation to the Sussexes:

Harry and Meghan will touch down in Colombia this week as guests of the vice-president following the success of their three-day visit to Nigeria – but the invite has not been without controversy. The royal couple will be given the opportunity to “illuminate Colombia’s role as a beacon of culture and innovation”, according to vice-president Francia Márquez, who has come under growing pressure alongside incumbent President Gustavo Petro, as part of a government stained by scandal and corruption allegations.

Now, a leading Colombian scholar has suggested Márquez’s invite of the Sussexes was a move of self-promotion, rather than an act of serious diplomacy.

Colombia’s first black vice-president and a “symbol” according to political scientist Mónica Pachón, Márquez famously led a campaign against illegal mining, which saw her named on the BBC’s 100 Women list in 2019.In 2014, she was also involved in the Colombian peace process between the government and FARC – a Marxist revolutionary guerilla group – in one of Colombia’s largest steps towards ending the decades-long Colombian conflict.

But Pachón told The Independent that Márquez is not close to the President and “has not done much in the last two years” – so wants to “bring people who give her media attention”.

Some suggested the invite was a ploy from President Petro to deflect attention from a scandal-ridden term – but Ms Pachón dismissed the idea, arguing Petro “doesn’t care” about diplomacy and was “not involved”.

“He doesn’t care, right? His behaviour as a diplomat, he doesn’t arrive to the most important meetings with the US President, he’s travelling abroad to do stupid stuff. But I think he allows the vice president to do this kind of thing because she is the vice president, and she requires a little bit of attention. If the Duke and the Duchess are willing to play that game, well, good business for them,” Ms Pachón added.

[From The Independent]

I’m not going to pretend to know a great deal about Colombian politics or Francia Marquez, but I looked up her Wiki page to see if it was true that she “hasn’t done much in the last two years.” I found that she’s largely been acting as a diplomat-at-large (as many vice presidents do), she took the position of Minister of Equality and Equity, she is a visible advocate for the environment and for Black Colombians and she’s also one of the biggest targets of racist abuse in the country (she is the highest-ranking Black person in the history of Colombia’s government). It actually seems perfectly reasonable that Marquez made a point of inviting the Sussxes to Colombia specifically on the issue of cyberbullying and online hate campaigns. The idea that Marquez is just a famewhore and she invited the Sussexes to get attention seems like it is nowhere near the real situation.

These are photos of Marquez meeting with Duchess Sophie last November. I guess Sophie is just a famewhore too, helping out another famewhore.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.