Verónica Alcocer was born inSincelejo. She met Gustavo Petro in 2000 at the age of 20, and the two married in December of that year. That same year, they moved toBogotá, D.C., where Petro already had an established political career. The couple had two children between 2002 and 2005. She had previously become a mother in 1996 to her eldest son,Nicolás.[5] She has actively supported her husband in his political career, campaigning alongside him during his2011 mayoral campaign in Bogotá. Alcocer became the First Lady of Bogotá after her husband's victory in the2011 regional elections. As First Lady, she assumed the role of social gestor of the city.
Alcocer became First Lady in 2022 after her husbandwas inaugurated as president. Her role as First Lady diverged from the mold established by her predecessors, as she had, for the first time, her own agenda, separate from that of the president. Diplomacy and strategic negotiation became their greatest allies in promoting social causes such as the eradication ofsexual violence against children, child malnutrition, and access tohealthcare for low-income people.
Verónica del Socorro Alcocer García was born 26 May 1976 inSincelejo,Sucre grew up in aConservative family in Sincelejo, born to Jorge Emilio Alcocer (1943-2012)[6] and Elisabeth García de Alcocer.[7][8] Her father was the son of Sucre politician José Eustorgio Alcocer, two-time mayor of Sincelejo. Verónica's middle name wasdel Socorro in honor of the Virgin of Socorro, a saint to whom her parents have traditionally been devoted.[9][10]
As a child, Verónica dreamed of becoming a nun, showing a keen interest in helping without reward. As a teenager, she began studying law at theCaribbean University Corporation, a degree she would postpone twice and ultimately never complete.[11][12][13]
She met politician Gustavo Petro in April 2000. They met while he was giving a conference at the Caribbean University Corporation. Although he was almost twenty years her senior, she was impressed by his intelligence. During their first date, her father and uncle made it their mission to get to know him beforehand. Meanwhile, she was struggling with the stigma of being a single mother.[14][15]
Veronica and Gustavo Petro were married on 17 December 2000, in a private ceremony inBogotá, D.C.[16][17][18] The wedding took place months after Gustavo's divorce from Mary Luz Herrán.[19] Petro raised Veronica's eldest son,Nicolás, as his own and formally adopted him in 2022.[20][21]
Despite being the wife of a left-wing president, Alcocer has expressed on multiple occasions her devotion to theCatholic faith and her personal views against abortion,[22] without expressing her repudiation of the right to abortion.[23]
Alcocer was characterized by being potentially active during Gustavo Petro's presidential campaign,[24] which was unprecedented, since traditionally no spouse of a political candidate in thehistory of Colombia had carried out politics as a couple along with her husband, which allowed her to obtain consistent leadership as well as a positive image from the female population towards theirhusband.[25][26]
In June 2022, a series ofsecretly recorded videos of private meetings of Petro's presidential campaign were leaked, in one of which Alcocer was heard saying that all female journalists slept their way to the top. Alcocer later apologized, saying that the recordings were "taken out of context" and did not represent her ideas.[27]
Alcocer during her husband's inauguration on 7 August 2022.
Verónica became the third first lady to have also served as first lady of Bogotá, on 7 August 2022, duringPetro's inauguration. She had previously stated that, from her position, she had viewed the role as "historically detached from the needs of the people."[28]
During the heavy storms of November 2022, Alcocer was active in emergency response; on November 8, she landed inCartagena[29] and led a Unified Command Post which also involved MayorWilliam Dau the governor of Bolívar, Vicente Blel, the Minister of Labor,Gloria Inés Ramírez, the governor of Atlántico,[30]Elsa Noguera, the general director of Social Prosperity,Cielo Rusinque the Minister of the Interior,Alfonso Prada and the director of the Risk Management Unit, Javier Pava.[31][32]
On 24 May 2023 she traveled toLa Guajira, to meet the indigenous communities inUribia andManaure,[33] where she observed and listened to the main complaints of the inhabitants of these remote areas of the country,[34] as well as promising to be a voice from the people to thegovernment.[35][36]
Verónica Alcocer during the event to eradicate sexual violence in childhood on 7 November 2024
On 7 November 2024 she attended the event against the eradication ofsexual violence againstchildren. During her speech, she stated that making solutions visible for children is her main objective.[37][38]
Alcocer's first official act as First Lady took place on the morning of Monday, 8 August 2022, when she declared her support for and subsequently signed thegender equality bills to be presented inCongress by the congresswomen of theHistoric Pact for Colombia.[40][41] In April 2023, she joined as a spectator the debates inCongress on the Health reform proposed by thePetro administration, where minutes before she held a private meeting with MinistersCarolina Corcho of Health andAlfonso Prada of the Interior, in the company of Representative to the ChamberAgmeth Escaf as well as some other members of theHistoric Pact bench where she discussed some points of the reform and shared her points of view.[42][43][44]
On June 7, two months later, he would again attend the debate onPension reform. Later, he would participate in the marches called by the Petro administration in support of the health and pension reforms.[45][46][47]
On 7 September 2022, she visited PRIO inOslo, Norway, to learn how Norway has organized its commitment to peace around the world, with a particular focus on women's inclusion and gender perspectives.[48] On 19 September 2022, Alcocer and foreign ministerÁlvaro Leyva[49][50] attendedQueen Elizabeth's funeral held atWestminster Abbey, London.[51]
On 19 September 2022 she traveled to Japan in the company of the Minister of Foreign Affairs to attend the state funeral of former Prime MinisterShinzo Abe.[52][53]
On 29 September 2022, Alcocer had the opportunity to meet withYuko Kishida, wife of the Japanese Prime Minister,Fumio Kishida;[54] they spoke on culture and gender equality, as well as cooperation between both countries for means of friendly development between the two countries.[55]
In October 2022, she traveled toOslo, Norway, for the second time. She visited the House of Human Rights with the director of the Oslo Crisis Center, Lise Walmsness Larsen.[56] She presented theOrder of Boyacá Cross to former Norwegian ambassador John Petter Opdahl.[57]
On 14 January 2023, Alcocer traveled toVatican City[58] on behalf of herhusband, to hold a 30-minute audience[59] in the Library of the Apostolic Palace withPope Francis.[60] Among the points discussed in the audience, both discussed domestic,[61] the abuse of women and children in Colombia.[62] The event ended with an invitation from Alcocer to the Pope to visit Colombia.[63][64]
On 31 January 2023, Alcocer traveled toCaracas, Venezuela,[65] where she held a meeting with Nicolás Maduro's wife,Cilia Flores.[66][67] The main topic of the meeting was the reinforcement of bilateral relations between Colombia and Venezuela.[68] She also had a private meeting. with the President of Venezuela,Nicolás Maduro.[69]
On 3 May 2023, Alcocer and Petro made a state visit to Spain,[70] as part of Petro's agenda, in which they discussed the central axes ofPetro administration, such asglobal warming, education andTotal Peace.
In November 2023, she traveled toVenezuela for the second time together with the president, who met with the President of VenezuelaNicolás Maduro to discuss migration, energy transition and climate change.[75]
Verónica Alcocer with TheQueen of the Netherlands.
On 13 June 2024, she traveled together with the president toSweden for a state visit between Sweden and Colombia.[77][78] On 15 June 2024, she held a meeting with representatives of the Ancla Foundation, the organization Grupo Colombia and the Swedish Human Rights Foundation where development projects were agreed for the benefit of children, cornflowers, women and the population ofLa Guajira.[79][80]
Alcocer played a leading role in Colombia's internationaldiplomacy, unlike her predecessors, breaking with the social patterns that have traditionally been marked for the role of first lady, with an independent and leading agenda outside of that of her husband. He led negotiations, representation delegations, international strategic alliances and high-level meetings of a social and reconciliatory nature.[88]
From 17 to 20 June 2024, traveled toSwitzerland where, among his various meetings, he held meetings with theNestlé Foundation, as well as with Mirko Giulietti, head of the Americas Division, in which it was agreed to launch a pilot phase to improve child nutrition in vulnerable areas of Colombia and initiatives for better access to drinking water in La Guajira.[89][90][91] Later he met with the Colombian community in Switzerland and would hold a meeting withKelly Clements, Deputy High Commissioner of UNHCR, and Christian Salazar, director of field operations and technical cooperation of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, with the in order to strengthen international cooperation.[92][93][94] In September 202 he traveled toChina at the invitation ofColombo-China Friendship Association, where she advanced her work agenda focused on cooperation in education projects for youth and gender equality.[95][96][97] She met with the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs,Hua Chunying and the Vice President of the National Women's Federation,Lin Yi.[98][99] On October 23, 2024, she traveled toVatican City for the second time to hold a meeting withPope Francis and later participate in the recitation of theAngelus inSt. Peter's Square.[100][101]
On November 21–26, 2024, an invitation made by the First Lady of EgyptEntissar Amer, the Minister of Social Solidarity,Maya Morsi and the Deputy Prime Minister of Human Development and Minister of Health and Population,Khaled Abdelghaffar.[102][103] They exchanged knowledge and experiences around social protection and services aimed at children and families.[104][105] Later he met with the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar,Ahmed el-Tayeb, with whom he shared messages focused on peace. The trip ended with a visit to the National Council of Women of Egypt.[106][107][108]
Within a week of assuming her role, Alcocer drew criticism from both her husband'ssupporters and detractors for adopting awhite savior attitude towards theAfro-Colombian community.[109] Alcocer has faced criticism from her detractors, who on multiple occasions have accused her of seeking to monopolize the functions and obligations of a public office; detractors have also claimed that the title of First Lady is a burden,[110] merely protocol and ceremonial.[111][112]
In September 2022 vice presidentFrancia Márquez, expressed that her relationship with thePresident was strong. She also stated that she herself had refused the possibility of attending thefuneral of the Queen Elizabeth II, saying that when theMinister of Foreign Affairs[113][114] had proposed her to represent Colombia at the funeral[115] she said she was not interested in attending the funeral of a representative ofAfrican oppression and slavery, taking as a reference that Great Britain was one of the most extensivecolonial empires that oppressed theAfrican race for many years,[116] Marquez urged the media and the nation to take for granted that she was chosen to represent Afro-Colombians[117] of her nation and to contribute from her position to the construction of peace.[118]
In February 2023, Alcocer joined the celebration of theCarnival of Barranquilla;[119][120][121] this was the first time that a First Lady in office participated in this event. Alcocer had previously been the target of criticism for the celebrations held on the night of August 7 after thepresidential inauguration of her husband, where videos were leaked in which she appeared dancing to the rhythm of cumbia, fandango and porro, native sounds ofCórdoba andSucre, native departments of the presidential couple.[122][123]
Alcocer was harshly criticized, after a series of videos were leaked during her stay inMadrid, in which she made funny faces while thenational anthem was playing, which was classified by some as disrespectful and rude,[124][125] at the same time she was criticized for dancing in the street to the rhythm of the nativemapalé dance[126][127] from thePacific region of Colombia, performed by a group of Colombian musicians based in Spain.
In January 2024, Alcocer was a trend, after it was known through an investigation carried out by the newspaperLa Silla Vacia the budget allocated to its private staff, which included transportation, makeup artist, fashion advisor and photographer, this news caused great controversy, since afirst lady is not a public servant, which caused different opinions from different sectors.[128][129]
In June 2024, Alcocer denounced a campaign to smear his name by members of thePetro administration.[130][131] Through a press release, Alcocer asked the Attorney General,Luz Adriana Camargo, to investigate the disinformation campaign against her.[132][133]
On the day of the presidential election, Alcocer chose black pants with a blue wool vest. When she voted for her husband, she inspired everything from memes to analysis of what her four years in this position will be like.[136][137]
On 7 August 2022, for herhusband's inauguration, Alcocer used a design made up of a jumpsuit chosen for the occasion and designed exclusively for her.[138][139] One detail included a brooch with the image of the Virgin of the Miraculous, symbol of devotion and faith; this was made inSanta Cruz de Mompox by designer Virgilio Madinah, and brought together faith and indigenous heritage.[140][141]
Alcocer seeks to showcase the work of Colombian artisans, appearing in public with items such as Metalero handmade jewelry, a bag by designer Adriana Ureta and gift shoes from Norberto and Antonio.[142]
For her arrival at thePalacio Real de Madrid on 3 May 2023, Alcocer wore an ecru crepe dress, 100 percent wool, decorated with handcraftedappliqués, which were made by Diana Chirimía, from theEmbera katío tribe.[145] The fabrics were decorated with beads, by the indigenous embera Gladys Nacavera Güipa, whileCali designer Andres Totalora oversaw the completion of the ensemble.[146][147]
While representing Colombia at theCoronation of Charles III, which she attended with the Minister of Foreign Affairs,Álvaro Leyva, she wore a white dress with headdresses of unlink blue flowers, complemented with an unlink pale pink hat.[148][149]
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