Colombian Vice President, Francia Marquez has revealed that the members of her security team has foiled an assassination attempt on her life on the road that leads to her family residence in the village of Yolombo in Suarez, Cauca.
Marquez was elected on a history-making ticket in August as the first Afro-Colombian vice president.
On Tuesday, Marquez revealed via her Twitter handle that her security had carried out “the deactivation and destruction of a high-capacity explosive device” in the road leading to her family home in the village of Yolombo in Colombia’s southwest.
According to Marquez, the device contained more than seven kilogrammes (15.4 lbs) of explosive devices contained in plastic bag, she said, “a plastic bag containing a high-powered explosive substance made of ammonium nitrate, powdered aluminium and … nails”.
In addition, she said that her security agents discovered the explosive after reports of suspicious behaviour by “outside elements” in the area.
Integrantes de mi equipo de seguridad hallaron un artefacto con más de 7 kilos de material explosivo en la vía que conduce a mi residencia familiar en la vereda de Yolombó, en Suarez, Cauca. El mismo fue destruido de manera controlada por personal anti explosivos de la SIJIN. pic.twitter.com/gUpYQVOfFD
— Francia Márquez Mina (@FranciaMarquezM) January 10, 2023
According to Al Jazeera news, Marquez was a vaunted environmental activist who became part of Colombia’s first-ever left-wing government following her victory with President Gustavo Petro, a former mayor of Bogota and one-time rebel with the now-defunct M-19 movement.
The election underlined a drastic change in presidential politics in Colombia, a country that has long approached leftist candidates warily for their perceived association with decades of armed conflict.
Petro has attempted to end the continuing violence in the country by negotiating with left-wing rebels and armed groups such as drug traffickers, drawing criticism from right-wing factions.