Piedad Cordoba, an outspoken leftist who straddled Colombia's ideological divide, dies at 68
Piedad Córdoba, an outspoken Colombian lawmaker who for decades championed the rights of her fellow Afro-Colombians while undertaking huge risks as a go-between to leftist rebel groups, has died. She was 68.
The senator’s death was confirmed Saturday by President Gustavo Petro, who praised Córdoba as a true liberal who “fought all her mature life for a more democratic society.”
No cause of death was given but Colombian media reported she was found dead Saturday by her bodyguards at her home in Medellín from an apparent heart attack.
Known throughout Colombia for her colorful turbans evoking her African heritage, Córdoba stood out as a leftist stalwart in one of Latin America’s most conservative countries and paid dearly for her vociferous defense of some of the country’s most dispossessed.
Whether kidnapped by right-wing paramilitary groups, or expelled from Congress for promoting the country’s last remaining rebel army, Córdoba never shied away from conflict and frequently bounced back from adversity in remarkable ways.
A trusted ally of the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, Córdoba played a key behind-the-scenes role in bringing leaders of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, to the negotiating table that resulted in a historic 2016 peace deal ending a half century of guerrilla conflict.
At: https://apnews.com/article/cordoba-obit-colombia-leftist-afrocolombian-aa74d5c98f8130e911100a3c4b6c17a1
Colombian senator and peace activist Piedad Córdoba, 1955- 2024.
As tireless as she was controversial, Córdoba was instrumental in bringing peace to Colombia after three decades of civil war.
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were "coddling" La Piedad in this photo, according to the Wall Street Journal! "Coddling!"
They are probably beside themselves in losing another outlet for their rancid poisonous rage!
This Congresswoman was proven far beyond courageous time and again, as waves of Colombian fascist oligarchs threw all they could find at her, even sending death squad AUC to kidnap her. IIRC. Sketchy summary of the event, from years ago:
As a senator between 2006 and 2010, Córdoba was an outspoken critic of the right-wing government of Álvaro Uribe over its hardline approach to the FARC insurgency and the widespread human rights violations committed by security forces against civilians. In 1999, she was kidnapped by the AUC paramilitary organisation and held hostage for several weeks. In 2009, she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for her work promoting peace and human rights in Colombia.
The attack on Córdoba’s security detail comes as other high-profile political figures have also been targeted. Senator Iván Cepeda received threats recently after Uribe was submitted to house detention after the former president allegedly sought to manipulate witnesses in attempts to inciminate Cepeda. In 2019, the Bogota offices of the FARC party, Patriotic Union and the Communist Party were attacked.
Colombia has a history of violence towards opposition politicians, particularly those on the political left. In response to the latest incident, Córdoba’s son Juan Luis Castro tweeted ‘In my family, we’ve been through enough attackes, the method is always the same: setups, threats, testing security details and finally they do something to put our lives at risk.’
https://justiceforcolombia.org/news/attack-on-security-detail-of-former-senator-and-peace-advocate/
Piedad Cordoba worked hard and long defending the rights of the poor of Colombia, and she was beloved.
Thank you, peppertree.
