Former President Álvaro Uribe Vélez spoke on Wednesday of the controversy involving the candidate for the Vice President of the Republic, Francia Márquez. Recently, it became known that the applicant of the Historical Pact has been one of the beneficiaries of the Solidarity Income, which aims to support citizens who are in a difficult economic situation, whether due to poverty or extreme poverty.
The situation became known in the program El Control, directed by María Andrea Nieto. The journalist questioned Márquez about receiving financial aid and questioned whether he was really still in a situation of economic vulnerability, since he received 25 contributions equivalent to four million Colombian pesos.
“If Francia Márquez's home was vulnerable during the year of the pandemic, then it had every right to access state resources. But is it still a vulnerable home? When did you retire from Sisben three?” , said Nieto.
The former president responded to a triune from a media outlet that shared the news involving the candidate and spoke about financial aid without directly mentioning Francia Márquez. “I wish Solidarity Income would expand to 5 million poor families and increase the amount,” Uribe wrote on his Twitter account. The former senator pointed out that the grant should have reciprocities such as “studying, working, caring for the family, assuming specific responsibilities with the environment.”
Álvaro Uribe was not the only one who spoke about the Solidarity Income. Congressman Miguel Polo Polo also commented on Twitter; the vice-presidential candidate demanded him for receiving four million pesos through the State subsidy, calling her “hypocritical.”
“Francia Márquez's 'impoverished negra, 'what does she call herself. He cackles that the State has Afro people oppressed and in inequality and that is why they wake up late not to have breakfast. Do you think it's a lot of oppression to receive more than 4 million in subsidies from the State? HYPOCRITE!” , Polo Polo wrote in a first trill.
Later, he stressed that there was a difference between Francia Márquez and him, since she preferred a “hungry, resentful, bitter people and beggar for alms from the state”; while he prefers that “black capitalists, millionaires, who look to the future, and who forgive and forget the injustices of the past,” the congressman pointed out.
The version of Francia Márquez
Faced with the scandal, W Radio indicated that official information indicates that Gustavo Petro's vice-presidential formula was part of the Sisbén III system from 2013 until the entry into force of Sisbén IV in March 2021.
The station also spoke with the Caucan leader and said that, “they are looking for a way to trample on their image, but they are not going to succeed”. Márquez explained that it seems normal for her to receive the Solidarity Income and have been in that Sisbén as a poor Colombian woman “and that even so she has been paying for her health as an independent for many years,” he added.
Another of those who came out to defend the candidate was Gustavo Petro, who wrote on Twitter: “The W discovered that France is economically poor and spiritually rich. They are surprised that people who are not economically powerful want political power.”
In addition, according to Caracol Radio, the leader of the Historical Pact is preparing a press release in which she will explain everything related to the contributions she received and anticipated that one of the reasons is related to the fact that she considers herself a poor woman.
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