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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Joe Parkin Daniels in Santander de Quilichao

‘She represents me’: the black woman making political history in Colombia

Francia Márquez campaigns in Santander de Quilichao, Cauca.
Francia Márquez campaigns in Santander de Quilichao, Cauca. Photograph: Robert Bonet/NurPhoto/Rex/Shutterstock

Mayra Fernanda Mejía, a black single mother and rural activist, never really felt that Colombia’s politicians cared about people like her – until now.

She has been threatened with violence for speaking out against the armed groups that plague her community, and each election season she has witnessed light-skinned candidates pass through the war-torn province of Cauca offering food handouts and empty promises of development.

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