Scandal in Colombia due to racist remarks by an Uribista who also urges to kill ‘communists’

The racist statements of an uribista protester against the vice president of Colombia, Francia Márquez, and the Afro-descendant community, have unleashed a wave of repudiation and indignation in the South American country.

The woman, who identified herself as Esperanza Castro and participated on Monday in a demonstration called by sectors of the opposition to the Government of Gustavo Petro in the Plaza de Bolívar in Bogotá, compared Márquez to «an ape», assured that «the blacks» had no education and that, according to her, they only «rob, steal and kill», reports RT.

«That ape, who because she had a million votes, considers she is the ‘star’ of the ride. Poor apes, the apes ruling», said Castro in a viralized video on social networks. Given this, the journalist asks her: «When you say ‘ape’, who are you referring to?» And the woman replies: «To Francia Márquez. Francia Márquez is an ape».

After that racist statement, the reporter from the local media Diaspora Social asks Castro about the reason for her insults, to which she replies: «What education can a black person have?».

Upon learning of the video, the president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, reacted: “This racist hatred is irrational, that is, it is far from all rational human knowledge. But with it they do politics. With it (racist hatred) they condemned all humanity to a disaster in 1933″.

In other statements by the same woman to another local media outlet, Castro assures that the founder of the Democratic Center party, Álvaro Uribe, lacked time to finish off his opponents and urges that the «communists» be assassinated. «With a communist you don’t have to fight, just shoot the ‘mule’ and throw it into the river».»Long live Carlos Castaño!»

The statements of the Uribista supporter were not the only ones that caused outrage among Colombian citizens, because during Monday’s opposition protests, in which attacks against press teams and supporters of Gustavo Petro’s government were also recorded, there was another woman who defended the creation of paramilitary groups such as the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC).

In one of the demonstrations held in the city of Medellin, a woman who carried a sign with the message: «We need Uribe as president», said that the opponents of Petro have had to re-form the self-defense groups so as to defend themselves.

“I am going to be a leader to defend my beloved Colombia”, said the interviewee. Faced with these statements, the reporter asks her: «Are you saying paramilitary?». To which she replies, “Me? Self-defense, revive Carlos Castaño! [maximum leader of the AUC]».

Carlos Castaño, in addition to founding the AUC, was a paramilitary closely linked to drug trafficking, especially as one of the main allies of drug lord Pablo Escobar and the Medellín Cartel. He was also one of the main protagonists of the armed conflict, in which his main rivals were the FARC-EP and the ELN guerrillas.

Castaño is accused of being responsible for the execution of different massacres in Colombia, in which thousands of peasants, activists and left-wing political leaders were assassinated, such as the humorist Jaime Garzón, Bernardo Jamarillo Ossa, José Antequera, Carlos Pizarro Leongómez, among others. The reactions in Colombia

In social networks, users expressed their astonishment and even shame for the expressions of hate in the demonstrations of the Colombian opposition.

“Here are the good people, the decent people, the Uribe people. This is not funny, this generates anger and sadness, but it perfectly reflects that sector of society that marched against the government», said a tweeter.

Another Twitter user added: «Shame on this. It seriously makes me want to wish for humanity to become extinct. Sometimes I really can’t understand what goes through the mind of someone like that and the worst of all is that there are so many more like her. Here it is no longer a question of political positions, it is of basic respect».

«Eighty years of ‘inner enemy doctrine’ codified in the imaginary in a methodical way. Eighty years of impunity during the political extermination (of many) with the participation of the ‘State within the State’ «, another user pointed out on Twitter.

In the same social network, a tweeter indicated: “Well, it seems that in the midst of her anger a truth escaped her mouth: the young people who appeared in the Cauca River dismembered… Could it be that you have something to do with this, Mrs. Esperanza Castro? ? It would be interesting to start a criminal investigation. Her statements are very serious».

According to the local media RCN Radio, the Attorney General’s Office ordered this Tuesday the start of an investigation to determine «possible criminal responsibilities» on the part of Castro for acts of racism.

The investigation would be carried out by territorial security prosecutors and the Human Rights Directorate, who issued orders to the judicial police to fully identify the woman who appears in the video, who must respond to the incident.

For his part, the director of the National Police, Henry Sanabria, published a notice with Castro’s photo so that citizens could help identify her and said that in Colombia «no one can encourage or promote hatred».

“Discrimination cannot be the flag that lights the flame of solidarity. Exculpation as a way to compensate for the damage caused is a path to peace», said the police chief.