Francia Márquez in Argentina: Afro-Colombian social and political leader maintained a working agenda with Victoria Dunda

After the national meeting of the Afro-Argentine community in Paraná, Entre Ríos, The President of the Institute against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism (INADI) received the presidential candidate of Colombia, Francia Marques Mina, for a series of business meetings.

The first, in the Latin American Council for Social Sciences, brought together different people from the academic and institutional world interested in learning about the processes of reform and development of the Latin American community of African descent, of which Francia Márquez is a reference. Subsequently, Victoria Dunda, Francia Marquez and Federico Beta, Director of the Commission for Historical Recognition of the Afro-Argentine Community at the National Institute of Rural Development, met with Jorge Ferraris, Minister of Regional Development and Habitat for the Nation. The President of the Institute spoke about the conclusions of the meeting held in Parana on 1 and 2 November, where representatives of Afro-Argentines from all over Argentina met to prepare the national state for a framework of anti-racism policies.

Together, they analyzed the challenges of the national and neighboring country agenda, particularly with regard to the policies that states are putting in place for people of African descent. During the meeting, Francia Marquez said: “We are talking with the Argentine government about the situation of the people of African descent in this country, to recognize structural racism and that there is an Afro-Argentine population that needs to be shown and recognized in a progressive government.”

Finally, during the afternoon The Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Buenos Aires hosted the “From Resistance to Power” conference led by Francia Marquez, Victoria Dunda and Gabriela Merlinsky. In it, INADI along with the UBA College of Social Sciences and CLACSO promoted the announcement of Honoris Causa to the Colombian nominee, also winner of the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2018.

The president of the institute said that “France represents hope in the face of the symbolic prelude, which means the violation of the rights of the majority in Latin America. But the majority are the people, the oppressed and the deprived of rights. France and its struggle represent life.” Connecting to life is the challenge that remains for the popular sectors of Latin America.”