Colombian Vice President Francia Marquez proposed opening a Colombian embassy in Ethiopia and offered university scholarships for African nationals to study in Colombia. His proposal was not badly received on the African continent where Colombia already has embassies and diplomatic relations with 17 countries. Francia Marquez also proposed the opening of a Colombian embassy in Ethiopia, one of three countries on the official agenda of the Vice President.
Ethiopia, where Francia Marquez has proposed an embassy, is a country in extreme poverty, in the midst of conflict and violence and with one of the highest emigration rates in the world. It is the second most populous country in Africa with approximately one hundred and twenty million inhabitants, who mostly seek to migrate from their country.
Although there are no updated official records, many of its citizens immigrated to Colombia through the Darien Gap or are trying to escape to the US. In 2021, a health emergency arose due to the accumulation of more than 15,000 African immigrants in Necocali Antioquia, who sought to move to Panama or stay in Colombia.
Francia Marquez’s offer is very attractive to Ethiopia but not as attractive to Colombia. There is no business that can be done with that country, nor antecedents or statistics of Colombians living in Ethiopia. There are also no educational offers for Colombians in Ethiopia. According to Oxfam International, it is one of the poorest countries in the world, with half of its residents living below the extreme poverty line and child malnutrition and famine being among the highest in the world.
‘We recognize the difficulties that Africans face in traveling to Colombia. We want to promote visa flexibility procedures that facilitate our arrival in Africa and their arrival in our country’ is one of the aspects that read in the most recent statement sent by the Vice President of the Republic.
Colombia does not solve its higher education coverage, it does not solve the hunger in La Guajira or the basic needs of citizens in different regions of the country, but it does so through the embassy proposed by Vice President Frans Marquez for immigrants from Ethiopia and Africa opens its doors. and whose cost or previous studies are not known. Is the drama of millions of Venezuelans fleeing Colombia being repeated?
