Francia Márquez, a 39-year-old Afro-Colombian environmental activist could be on the verge of becoming Colombia's next vice-president after the leftist frontrunner, Gustavo Petro, picked her as his running mate.

Colombia.- The move has been welcomed by progressives and civil rights activists across the region.

“How could I not cry, if I represent the black women of this country?” said Márquez.

“Every Colombian, in their diversity, from the regions, from each territory, made it possible for us to be here,” said Márquez, after receiving the nomination on Wednesday morning.

If elected she would become the second black female vice-president after Costa Rica's Epsy Campbell Barr.

A law student and mother of two, Márquez comes from the war-torn western department of Cauca, where her outspoken opposition to illegal gold-mining mafias led to death threats that forced her to flee her home.

She later led a 10-day, 350-mile march of 80 women from the Amazon to Bogotá that prompted the government to send troops to remove the miners and put an end to the cyanide and mercury contamination they caused.

In 2018, she was awarded the prestigious Goldman environmental prize for her campaigning.

Márquez was chosen as Petro's running mate after winning over 750,000 votes in a primary earlier this month. Both belong to the leftist Historic Pact coalition, which is largely made up of anti-establishment politicians and many political newcomers. (RHC)