Verónica Alcocer's visibility has long angered Colombia's political opposition. Now the growing debate over the first lady's figure, fueled by the millions spent by her inner circle, has also exposed cracks in sectors linked to President Gustavo Petro. And even heated public discussions. “These days, women don’t want to be first ladies, they want to be presidents,” defended Congressman David Racero, one of the most visible faces of the ruling history pact. “This title of First Lady is not provided for in the Constitution,” she noted in a recent interview with W Radio.
“The figure of the first lady should not exist. A president's wife would do well to renounce this title and affirm her life's project completely independent of her husband's presidency. “I agree with everything that deputy Racero says,” the actress Margarita Rosa de Francisco, who has become a kind of progressive influencer and supported the campaign of the first left-wing president, expressed her approval and played on her social networks this Wednesday this interview. of today's Colombia. This news sparked a new discussion.
The first to respond was a state official surrounded by controversy, ProColombia's international affairs and government manager, María Antonia Pardo. “Just as not all women want to leave the house to take up leadership positions, but prefer to stay and do the hardest and most thankless work, namely, working at home and raising children; There are first ladies who do social work as managers and want to support their husbands. And that’s okay,” wrote Nany Pardo, as she is known. She was at the time the press secretary of the Petro candidate and the wife of the Chamber representative Agmeth Escaf, another congressman of the Historic Pact who was very close to Alcocer.
Verónica Alcocer, during a march in support of the government, on June 7, 2023. NATHALIA ANGARITA
In his message, he criticized both Racero and former senator Gustavo Bolívar, who in turn was very close to Petro, for “attacking Verónica.” “I have never seen an ally of a president mess with his wife like that (…) Instead of surrounding her, which they should be doing, instead of protecting her, they join in the irrational attacks of the opposition and claim there is Waste. what is wrong. You have no idea what valuable work Verónica does! If they knew, they would keep their mouths shut,” he chided them on X, formerly Twitter. “The reflection I do goes beyond Verónica. “I am not attacking her, but the figure of the first lady herself, on pure republican principle,” replied Racero. “Your comment shows that you didn’t understand anything,” the Bogota representative said as he asked for respect in the face of a facial expression that “expresses submissive childishness to look good on the boss.”
In reality, Racero, who was the first President of the House of Representatives during Petro's four-year term, has done nothing more than support the criticism of the figure of the First Lady that was already expressed in the government of Iván Duque, when the presidential couple was María Juliana Ruiz. Beyond the person or the incumbent president, “titles are an outdated legacy in a democracy when they are tied to the person and not to the function, let alone responsibility,” he has argued more than once.
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In Colombia, the first lady has no clearly defined functions. Formally, it is not a public official; it neither has its own budget nor can it be used for political control. However, he typically heads departments and his spending causes controversy. According to an investigation by La Silla Vacía, President Petro's third wife “used her power to have an entourage that gave the state more than a billion pesos (about $250,000) in the year and a half she was in office. dollars) cost”. the power. The entourage that usually accompanies her on her travels includes her best friend, a photographer, a personal makeup and wardrobe artist, and a personal advisor hired by three different public bodies, whose salaries are similar to or even higher than that of a minister are higher. These revelations contradict the narrative of a government that prides itself on being progressive, popular and frugal in public spending.
The character of the First Lady should not exist. A president's wife would do well to renounce this title and affirm her life's project completely independent of her husband's presidency. I agree with everything the representative says. @DavidRacero In…
— Margarita Rosa (@Margaritarosadf) January 31, 2024
Nany Pardo herself is one of the many public service appointments that the press attributes to the First Lady. Pardo reports to ProColombia president Carmen Caballero, a dentist friend of Alcocer, and has a salary of 28 million pesos per month (just over $7,000), more than that of a minister (24.2 million per month). “In addition to her work at ProColombia, Pardo is known in the Nariño Palace as communications advisor and right-hand woman to Verónica Alcocer. “She manages the First Lady’s agenda, logistics, meetings, events and travel,” said the publication La Silla Vacía, which revived the debate.
The difficult, long-standing discussion also involves gender stereotypes. In any case, the volume of Alcocer, which played an important role in the election campaign, has increased with mass baths in public places. Already in power, he served as diplomatic representative of the Petro government on several occasions, visited Pope Francis and led the Colombian delegation at both the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II of England and the funeral of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. .
In one of his most controversial appearances, last March at night and unexpectedly, he appeared at the Congress buildings, a few meters from the Casa de Nariño, during a meeting with several ministers and congressmen (including the representative Escaf) aimed at finding a solution Legislative process of the controversial health care reform. The President traveled to the United States, and from many different quarters this visit was interpreted as undue interference in the implementation of the administration's major legislative commitment.
It is difficult to hold the first lady accountable, this one or any of the previous ones, because there is a legal vacuum about what her responsibilities are, analyst Eugénie Richard told this newspaper. “It all depends on the tradition, the president in turn and the personality of the first lady. Some are interested in being very discreet, others want to be protagonists,” he estimates. The discussion about the advisability of abolishing or at least regulating this number in the future has also found its way into the ranks of the governing party.
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