A 62-year-old woman has pleaded guilty to charges of discrimination and harassment after making racist comments about Colombia’s first Black vice president.
Luz Fabiola Rubiano, a 62-year-old small business owner from Bogotá, was protesting in front of Colombia’s congress when she hurled racist insults against Vice President Francia Márquez and Afro Colombians, per the Associated Press.
“Apes are now governing us,” Rubiano said in a video that went viral in September. “Francia Márquez is an ape … what education can Black people have, they steal, attack and kill.”
Following the incident, Márquez’s lawyers filed a complaint, prompting prosecutors to launch an investigation. Prosecutors alleged that Rubiano incited hate and damaged the reputation of Márquez, who became Colombia’s first Black vice president last year, and the nation’s Afro-Colombian population through the discriminatory act.
Rubiano is set to be sentenced on May 30. Under Colombian law, acts of discrimination carry a maximum sentence of three years in prison.
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