Costa Rica News – In a history-making election, Epsy Campbell became the first Afro-Latina vice president in Costa Rica, as well as the first black female vice president in Latin America.
Winning alongside President-elect Carlos Alvarado Quesada, the two ran on a platform of “unity, infrastructure, and reducing inequality,” according to Jezebel.
Campbell, 54, is a co-founder of Costa Rica’s Citizen’s Action Party, of which Quesada is also a member. She also served in the legislature between 2002 and 2006, according to The Grio, and was the head of the Center for Women of African Descent, the Alliance of Leaders of African Descent in Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Black Parliament of the Americas. In the past, Campbell has called out racism in the country, and in the run up to the election, she spoke about reducing the pay gap in Costa Rica:
Campbell spoke with CRHoy.com on Sunday, saying, “It would not be the first only in Costa Rica, but in Latin America. And eventually, if the president leaves the country, [would be] the first woman of African descent to assume the presidency in the entire American continent. It’s a big responsibility.”
Maybe the U.S. can take some inspiration from Campbell for 2020?
BY MADISON FELLER
