Francia Márquez, a formidable leader of the Afro-Colombian community, is a Colombian human-rights and environmental activist and lawyer, who is the 13th and current Vice President of Colombia. She was born in Yolombó, a village in the Suarez municipality in Cauca Department. She first became an activist at 13, when construction of a dam threatened her community. After taking office, she became the first Afro-Colombian vice president in the country’s history. She is also the second woman to hold the post, after Marta Lucía Ramírez.
Francia has made significant strides in her relentless fight against illegal gold mining on her ancestral land. By organizing the women of La Toma and spearheading a 10-day, 350-mile march to the nation’s capital, Márquez successfully pressured the Colombian government to remove all illegal miners and their equipment from her community, setting a powerful precedent for environmental justice.
Illegal gold mining is a pervasive issue in Colombia, where approximately 80% of gold is mined unlawfully, wreaking havoc on the environment. This illicit activity leads to extensive deforestation and contamination of water sources, with illegal miners estimated to dump over 30 tons of mercury into rivers and lakes in the Amazon region each year. This mercury poisoning affects fish and people as far as 250 miles downstream, highlighting the urgent need for intervention.
La Toma, nestled in the Cauca Mountains of southwest Colombia, is at the heart of the country’s illegal gold mining epidemic. Home to a quarter million Afro-Colombians, the region’s residents are descendants of slaves brought from Africa to work in Colombia’s colonial mines and haciendas. For generations, the Afro-Colombian community has practiced agriculture and artisanal mining, using traditional methods to pan for gold nuggets in the Ovejas River, a crucial resource providing water and fish year-round.
In 2014, the arrival of illegal miners operating 14 backhoes on the banks of the Ovejas River devastated the local environment. The miners cleared forests, dug deep open pits, and disrupted the river’s natural flow, leading to fish deaths and contamination of the community’s only source of fresh water. The illegal mining camps, resembling boom towns from the California Gold Rush, saw populations swell to up to 5,000 people, bringing with them prostitution, drug use, and violence.
Francia Márquez, a single mother of two from Yolombo in the Cauca region, began her activism at 13 when a dam construction threatened her community. Employing Afro-Colombian music and dance as cultural and political tools, Márquez emerged as a local leader fighting for environmental and ancestral land rights. Her efforts against multi-national mining companies’ incursions into La Toma highlighted her commitment to her community’s wellbeing. She also educated local farmers on sustainable agriculture and joined the national Afro-Colombian network to promote cultural and land rights.
When the first backhoes arrived in La Toma in 2014, Márquez paused her legal studies at Santiago de Cali University to confront the destruction head-on. Unable to stop the backhoe operators alone, she rallied the women of La Toma, appealing to the UN High Commissioner for Colombia, and organized the historic march to Bogota in November 2014. The march, which garnered national attention, culminated in 22 days of protests in Bogota.
In December 2014, Márquez and the community reached an agreement with the Colombian government to eradicate illegal mining in La Toma. The government created a national task force on illegal mining, and by 2016, all illegal mining operations in La Toma had ceased, and machinery was removed or destroyed. Throughout the campaign, Márquez faced harassment, threats, and disrespect, forcing her to move to Cali for safety.
Despite the success, the battle against environmental contamination continues. Márquez presses the government to study and address the mercury and cyanide pollution in the region’s rivers, with independent reports showing mercury levels far exceeding Colombian safety standards.
Márquez’s achievements have inspired other communities to resist illegal mining, overcoming significant obstacles of sexism, racism, and corruption. Now, she aims to extend her advocacy to the Colombian House of Representatives, representing the Afro-Colombian community and their ancestral land’s stewardship.
2018 Goldman Environmental Prize winner for Colombia, Francia Márquez continues to fight for environmental justice and the rights of the Afro-Colombian community.
