Esteban Sinisterra Paz, a 23-year-old fashion designer from the impoverished and troubled Pacific region of Colombia, had barely started his career when he received a call from a historic client.
Francia Márquez, the renowned environmental activist and Colombia’s first black elected vice president, was on the line and wanted two outfits made.
“When I got her call, it was amazing as it wasn’t just about her or me, it was about our entire community,” said Sinisterra, an Afro-Colombian who runs the custom brand Esteban African. “This is a story written by all those who were left out and ignored, but one day they stood up and said, ‘We want change for our community.'”
Designer Esteban Sinisterra Paz: ‘Nobody like us and France were never taken into account, but now we know that we can achieve so much’. Photograph: Mademoiselleosaki/Getty Images
Sinisterra and millions of other voters got their wish on the afternoon of June 16 when Gustavo Petro, 62, a former guerrilla fighter and former mayor of Bogotá, the capital, won the presidency after a long and bitter campaign to wrest power from the rulers of the country. political elites. When Petro takes office today, it will be the first time the conservative South American country has been governed by a leftist.
His campaign was bolstered by the addition of Marquez, 40, to the ticket, who made headlines around the world when she became Petro’s running mate in March. Like Petro, who was a member of the now-defunct M-19 rebel group in his youth, Márquez is seen as an arsonist outsider. Much of his support is often due to the fact that he is not a typical politician, with light skin and wealthy political and business capital.
“His victory made me really believe in democracy,” Sinisterra said. “Nobody like us and France were never taken into account, but now we know that we can achieve a lot when we work collectively.”
Márquez, a single mother and former domestic worker, won the prestigious Goldman Prize in 2018 for her activism against a gold mine in her town, having led 80 women in a 350-mile march to Bogotá.
Like Márquez, Sinisterra was displaced by Colombia’s conflict with leftist rebel groups, including the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which has rocked the countryside for decades, claiming more than 260,000 lives and forcing seven million to flee. their homes. Other rebel groups, such as the still-active National Liberation Army (ELN), state-aligned paramilitaries, and Colombian security forces, have also committed atrocities.
A peace agreement signed with the FARC in 2016 was supposed to mark the beginning of the development of rural communities, but instead, other armed groups, with leftist and rightist ideology, but united by their involvement in drug trafficking, have moved in and now they are competing for territory.
Sinisterra was forced to flee his home in Nariño province in southwestern Colombia as a child when clashes between rival groups became too intense. “There were so many armed groups around, we didn’t even know which was which, but my family knew we had to leave,” the designer said. “I was one of those few young Colombians who were able to escape the war.”
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The designer said Marquez’s brightly colored and patterned outfits reflected Afro-Colombian traditions. “Red is what we wear when we want to create that impact of the strength of a Pacific woman,” Sinisterra said. “France never really had her own aesthetic because she was so focused on her wrestling, so it was great to work with her to create one of hers without losing the essence of her.”
Despite the groundswell of support for Marquez and Petro in underserved communities and many cities, the pair will face an unenviable set of challenges in office.
Inflation is rising along with the country’s national debt, cocaine production is at an all-time high, and neighboring Venezuela remains mired in economic crisis, with refugees fleeing to Colombia every day.
Petro, known for his towering ego and high-handed style, will also have to manage his vice president, who has her own support base and is a political newcomer unaccustomed to the deals often required in corridors of power
“Márquez is an activist used to demanding things that are often impossible,” said Sergio Guzmán, director and co-founder of Colombia Risk Analysis, a local consultancy. “Then the question is, how long will she have patience with Petro to fulfill his promises of rural reform, economic justice and the renegotiation of the free trade agreement with the United States?”
But for Márquez’s supporters, she represents a rare opportunity to promote the rights of Colombia’s poorest, who welcome her intention to establish a ministry for equality.
“France is the first black vice president of a country that for a long time decided to make people like her invisible, and only paid attention to white men,” said Yacila Bondo, a young Afro-Colombian activist. “Now the landscape is wide open.”
Source: www.theguardian.com