Does Colombia Need a First Lady? The millionaire spending of Gustavo Petro’s wife, Veronica Alcocer, sparked debate

Verónica Alcocer is usually seen in the foreground next to her husband Gustavo Petro, while the first left-wing leader of contemporary Colombia appears on the balcony of the Casa de Nariño. It is a postcard of the presidential couple. Her visibility contrasts with other first ladies before her. Surrounded by controversies, she has been anything but sane. His unusual activism and political influence stirred emotions around a man many considered obsolete.

In a hyper-presidential country, the current president’s partner does not have clearly defined functions, their role conforms to customs and practices. In formal terms, she is not a public official, she does not have a budget nor can she be called upon for political control, although she usually manages ministries, so her expenses cause controversy. Veronica Alcocer, as revealed by the investigation this week empty chair, a leading political portal, “Petro has used his power to cost the state more than a billion pesos in the year and a half he has been in power” (about $250,000). The entourage that usually accompanies her on her trips includes her best friend, a photographer, a personal make-up and wardrobe artist and a personal consultant, who is employed by three different public bodies with a salary higher than that of a minister.

These revelations clash with the narrative of a government that has consistently appealed to populists and pursued – at least controversially – a certain degree of restraint. President Petro’s family is his weak side and his third wife is no exception. The most recent controversy has once again sparked debate about the need for a first lady figure in Colombia.

Criticism has intensified, and not just from the right-wing opposition. “No one told us that ‘change’ in Colombia would come with our own version of Marie Antoinette: abuse, waste, undue political influence and outright favors from friends,” Rep. of the progressive Green Alliance party. Catherine Juvinao said. “Titles are an obsolete legacy in a democracy when they are attached to the person and not to the task, much less to the responsibility,” David Racero, representative of the ruling historical pact, reiterated for his part, while claiming that in the past he questioned the first lady. had, what he considers an “anti-republican legacy”. “If there is going to be a discussion about that figure, let’s do it seriously, regardless of who that person is or the current president,” he clarified on his social network.

There is a legal vacuum about what the first lady’s responsibilities are, says analyst Eugenie Richard, a professor who specializes in communications and Marketing Politician from the Externado University of Colombia. Therefore, it is difficult to hold him accountable. “This debate about whether the figure of the First Lady should disappear is complicated, because she is a ghost figure herself, with no very specific legal status. It all depends on tradition, in turn the personality of the President and First Lady. Some are interested in being very wise and others are interested in being heroes,” he values. “Although it is not constitutionally necessary, it always unleashes love and hate, it is easy prey for opposition,” he adds. .It is well seen that it is in charge of domestic affairs, childhood or malnutrition, but it tends to attract criticism if it raises its profile.A structure that perpetuates gender stereotypes.

With mass bathing in public squares and a visit by Pope Francis, the volume of discussion has increased with Alcocer, who has had a significant role since the campaign. The noise around him has been constant. At times he wields more political power than Vice President Francia Márquez, who has a popular mandate, and has been the government’s diplomatic representative on several occasions. He also led the Colombian delegation to the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II of England.

The Colombian press credits Alcocer with numerous appointments in public administration—which are both difficult to prove and debatable. His neighbor, Concepcion Baracaldo, who was for a semester the director of the Colombian Institute of Family Welfare (ICFB), declared at the time that she thought it was normal that she was the one who offered him the position. He also attributes his close relationship with the Deputy Minister of Culture, Jorge Zoro, who remained Minister-in-Charge for the entire semester. Zoro has denied to this newspaper that the first lady has any influence in the Ministry of Culture.

For analyst Monica Pachon, this influence on appointments is exceptional in the Colombian context. “It’s very strange, it’s an anomaly that the friends of the president’s wife are heroes of public policy,” says this professor at the University of Los Andes. “He plays an important political role, according to investigations conducted by various media, A Background Political,” he adds.

In what has been perhaps his most controversial appearance, Alcocer made a late-night and surprise appearance last March at the congressional facilities, a few meters from the Casa de Nariño, while a meeting was underway with several ministers and congressmen who wanted to shut down the legislative process. Health reform met with the greatest resistance of the government’s great social reforms. Petro was traveling to the United States. The unfortunate encounter spread like wildfire on social networks and was interpreted as an inappropriate intervention from many different sides.

There are examples of powerful first ladies. In Argentina, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner was the first woman before becoming president, and in the United States Hillary Clinton was also the first woman before becoming a presidential candidate. But there are other mirrors in the region that reflect more sharply. In Mexico, writer and historian Beatriz Gutiérrez Muller, wife of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has always rejected the title of “first lady” and rejected the traditional position of head of the national system for the comprehensive development of families. However, he has been the diplomatic representative of the government on more than one occasion. He was among others in charge of attending the inauguration of Gabriel Boric as President of Chile.

Chile is a case in point. Boric and his partner, anthropologist and feminist Irina Karmanos, proposed in their campaign to abolish the figure. Months after coming to power, and after a barrage of criticism for delays, they began the process of transferring the traditional functions of the first lady to the ministries concerned, which meant automatically assuming the Six Pillars of Direction, apart from protocol in the southern country. tasks. At the end of 2022, the first lady’s office in La Moneda was closed permanently. Last November, Boric confirmed the end of her relationship with Karmaros. There was a precedent in Chile, because in the first government of Michelle Bachelet, between 2006 and 2010, these tasks were already assigned to people who were paid for their work. She was the first woman to become president, a milestone that Colombia has yet to reach.

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