Colombian Vice President Márquez's Security Detail Disarms Roadside Bomb Found Near House

A bomb placed near the road to Colombian Vice President Francia Elena Márquez Mina’s home was found and safely dismantled by her security detail on Tuesday.

“Members of my security team found a device with more than 7 kilos of explosive material on the road that leads to my family residence in the village of Yolombó, in Suarez, Cauca,” Márquez tweeted on Tuesday.

“It was destroyed in a controlled manner by anti-explosive personnel from the SIJIN,” she added, using the acronym for the Defense Ministry’s Judicial Investigation Section.

Included in her tweet were several photos of the device, including a simple trigger on a wire near the road.

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

Márquez told Spanish media the bomb was a new “attempt against my life."

"However, we will not stop working, day after day, until reaching the total peace that Colombia dreams of and needs. We will not give up until in each territory it is possible to live in true harmony," she added.

A former maid and community activist, Márquez was selected by Colombian President Gustavo Petro to be his vice president last year. She is the first Afro-Colombian person to hold the position and the second woman to do so.

The victory of their left-wing umbrella party Historic Pact for Colombia was a first for the Colombian Left in a country long dominated by right-wing, pro-US politics.

Despite fierce opposition, Petro has pushed ahead with reversing many of the policies of his predecessor, Ivan Duque, including ending the hostility towards neighboring Venezuela and reopening peace talks with the National Liberation Army (ELN), a Marxist rebel group that has been fighting the Colombian government and right-wing militia groups for decades. Duque torpedoed previous talks in a dramatic reversal that led to, among other things, Cuba being placed on the US State Department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism, after it refused to hand over the ELN delegates who’d traveled there for the sabotaged talks.

Márquez has faced threats that it was time to “settle accounts” for her activism work, which especially focused on opposing illegal mining operations in Suárez. In May 2022, during an electoral campaign appearance, security was forced to rush to her defense when a green laser resembling a sniper’s targeting device focused on her as she spoke.

However, the candidate was now cowed, and continued to speak from behind her security detail.

“They will not silence us!” Márquez later tweeted. “Our fight is and has always been against all kinds of violence that attempt to sow fear among us. Peace will triumph!”