Aida Quilcué Explained

Aida Quilcué
Office:Senator of Colombia
Term Start:20 July 2022
Birth Name:Aida Marina Quilcué Vivas
Birth Place:Páez, Cauca, Colombia

Aida Marina Quilcué Vivas is a Colombian politician, indigenous and social leader of the Paez people. She belongs to the Regional Indigenous Council of Cauca (CRIC), she has been a UNESCO human rights and peace advisor. In 2022, she was elected to the Senate of the Republic by the Special Indigenous Constituency with the endorsement of her party, the Alternative Indigenous and Social Movement (MAIS).[1]

Biography

In the 1990s, Quilcué was a health promoter for the Cauca Indigenous Association (AIC). In 2000, she was coordinator of the health program at the AIC and at the Regional Indigenous Council of Huila (CRIHU).

Between 2003 and 2009, Quilcué was appointed Senior Counselor of the Regional Indigenous Council of Cauca (CRIC), being one of the organizers of the 2008 Indigenous Minga in which thousands of indigenous people participated who marched to Bogotá in protest.[1] In this mobilization, her husband Edwin Legarda died on 16 December in a hospital in Popayán after receiving three rifle shots fired by soldiers on the road that connects Inzá with Totoró, in the department of Cauca.[2] During the trial and In subsequent years, Quilcué and her daughter have been victims of death threats and attacks.[3]

Awards and recognition

In 2021, Quilcué won of the National Award for the Defense of Human Rights in Colombia in the category "Defense for a Whole Life".[4]

Notes and References

  1. News: Aida Quilcué, lideresa indígena que aspira al senado en defensa de la vida y la madre tierra . MAIS . 2020 . 9 June 2022 . 20 March 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220320061211/https://mais.com.co/opinio/602-aida-quilcue-lideresa-indigena-que-aspira-al-senado-en-defensa-de-la-vida-y-la-madre-tierra . dead .
  2. Web site: Aministía Internacional: Colombia: Amnistía Internacional condena la muerte del esposo de una líder indígena. https://web.archive.org/web/20090121064819/http://amnesty.org/es/for-media/press-releases/colombia-ai-condena-la-muerte-esposo-lider-indigena-20081218. 21 January 2009. Amnesty International.
  3. News: Lideresa indígena que aspira al Senado ha sido amenazada más de 100 veces . Caracol Radio . 2021 .
  4. News: Ganadora del Premio Nacional de Derechos Humanos en Colombia de 2021 . Verdad Abierta . 2021 .