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News > Colombia

Claudia Lopez Makes History as She's Sworn in as Bogota's Mayor

  • Claudia Lopez Makes History as She's Sworn in as Bogota's Mayor
Published 1 January 2020
Opinion

Claudia López of Alianza Verde Party has become the first woman and lesbian to be elected as mayor of the Colombian capital of Bogota.

More than a thousand Colombian mayors and over 30 governors have assumed their positions for the 2020-2023 period Wednesday, including Claudia López , of the Alianza Verde Party.

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The four-year period for the 1,100 mayors and 32 departmental governors that were elected on October 27 officially began on January 1, although some of them assumed in recent days to avoid power shortages and disruptions to the population with the change of year.

In the capital city, Claudia López made history, today, as she was the first woman and lesbian to assume the role as mayor of Bogota.

During her speech, López said that "Bogotá chose change, not only the change of government, priorities, style, leadership, but also to change history."

"At 481 years of foundation, in 2019, Bogota chose the daughter of a teacher, the oldest of 6 siblings, the girl who could get ahead with the infinite love of her parents and her extended family, the teenager who with discipline and an icetex credit was able to educate themselves," she said.

"To the professional who, on merit, tenacity and collective action, managed to break through in the academy and public service. To the first woman, diverse woman, to be elected during the second most important popular election in the country," the mayor said.

As for the recent student marches, where several young people have been injured on behalf of Esmad forces, López said that she will not allow "in any way, the abuse of power of any authority against that legitimate expression of citizens."

"We are going to take care of each other, we are not going to allow them to steal our hope, we are not going to allow them to steal more lives from this new generation that today goes out to the street to shout out that we are not stuck in the same debates of the past".  

"This is our opportunity to promote this new social and intergenerational contract here and now and make it a reality within the framework of the local powers of a city like Bogota ..."

On the other hand, among those who already swore the office are the governors of Meta, Juan Guillermo Zuloaga; North of Santander, Silvano Serrano; Cundinamarca, Nicolás García; Santander, Mauricio Aguilar, and Tolima, Ricardo Orozco.

January 1 will also mark the start of Aníbal Gaviria Correa's tenure as governor of Antioquia and Daniel Quintero Calle as mayor of Medellín.

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