Verónica Alcocer

Verónica del Socorro Alcocer García (born 26 May 1976) is a Colombian philanthropist and the current First Lady of Colombia since 2022, as the third wife of President Gustavo Petro.

Alcocer was born in Sincelejo in the department of Sucre. At the age of 21, she had her first child, Nicolás. She married Petro in 2000 and served as First Lady of Bogotá during his term as mayor of Bogotá (2012-2015), when she helped create projects that supported children's and women's rights and culture.

Early life
Verónica del Socorro Alcocer García was born on 26 May 1976 in Sincelejo, capital of the department of Sucre. She is the eldest of three children and her husband has claimed that she is of Italian ancestry. His father was Jorge Emilio Alcocer (1943-2012), a conservative politician from Sucre, son of José Eustorgio Alcocer, twice mayor of Sincelejo, while his mother, Elizabeth García de Alcocer, is a housewife who served as an active member of the Catholic Church. She showed interest in being religious from an early age, as well as in law, a career that she began three times and never ended.

She married Gustavo Petro in 2000, becoming the stepmother of Andres, Nicolas, and Andrea, Petro's children from his previous marriages. They went on to have two daughters together, Sofía and Antonella. She has become an ambassador for Colombian culture. Despite being the wife of a left-wing president with radical ideologies, Alcocer has expressed on multiple occasions her devotion to the Catholic faith, and her defense of children's rights, showing herself as pro-life, without expressing her repudiation of any kind the abortion.

Involvement in politics
Following Petro's victory in the 2022 Colombian presidential election, Alcocer became involved in the selection of some Cabinet members, mainly government officials and members of the president's office. She was also involved in the discussions of the health bills proposed by the Petro administration, held in the Congress during April 2023, this being classified as an unprecedented event. His positions in the administration and those of Petro's relatives have been criticized by Colombian publications such as Semana and La Silla Vacía, which have accused the president of nepotism.

Role in 2022 presidential campaign
Alcocer was characterized by being potentially active during Gustavo Petro's presidential campaign, which was unprecedented, since traditionally no spouse of a political candidate in the history of Colombia had carried out politics as a couple along with her husband, which allowed her obtain consistent leadership as well as a positive image from the female population towards their husband.

In June 2022, a series of secretly recorded videos of private meetings of Petro's presidential campaign were leaked, in one of which Alcocer was heard saying that all female journalists slept their way to the top. Alcocer later apologized, saying that the recordings were "taken out of context" and did not represent her ideas.

First Lady of Colombia (2022–present)
After her husband's victory at the Presidential election on 19 June 2022, Alcocer officially became the 20th woman to hold the distinction of First Lady of the Nation. She declared; "'There is an office and there is a fee. There are many things to do, whether or not it is official. The agenda is set by me, but above all it is set by the needs of the people. From the perspective of an ordinary citizen, I have seen that extremely distant role. I think you have to be in contact with people to listen to them and channel what they clearly need'."

Within a week of assuming her role, Alcocer drew criticism from both her husband's supporters and detractors for adopting a white savior attitude towards the Afro-Colombian community.

Domestic initiatives and activities
During the heavy storms of November 2022, Alcocer was active in emergency response; on November 8, she landed in Cartagena and led a Unified Command Post which also involved Mayor William Dau the governor of Bolívar, Vicente Blel, the Minister of Labor, Gloria Inés Ramírez, the governor of Atlántico, Elsa Noguera, the general director of Social Prosperity, Cielo Rusinque the Minister of the Interior, Alfonso Prada and the director of the Risk Management Unit, Javier Pava.

On 24 May 2023 she traveled to La Guajira, to meet the indigenous communities in Uribia and Manaure, where she observed and listened to the main complaints of the inhabitants of these remote areas of the country, as well as promising to be a voice from the people to the government.

Foreign trips and activities
On 19 September 2022, Alcocer and the Minister of Foreign Affairs  attended Queen Elizabeth's funeral held at Westminster Abbey, London.

On 19 September 2022 she traveled to Japan in the company of the Minister of Foreign Affairs to attend the state funeral of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

On 29 September 2022, Alcocer had the opportunity to meet with Yuko Kishida, wife of the Japanese Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida; they spoke on culture and gender equality, as well as cooperation between both countries for means of friendly development between the two countries.

On 14 January 2023, Alcocer traveled to Vatican City on behalf of her husband, to hold a 30-minute audience in the Library of the Apostolic Palace with Pope Francis. Among the points discussed in the audience, both discussed domestic, the abuse of women and children in Colombia. The event ended with an invitation from Alcocer to the Pope to visit Colombia.

On 31 January 2023, Alcocer traveled to Caracas, Venezuela, where she held a meeting with Nicolás Maduro's wife, Cilia Flores. The main topic of the meeting was the reinforcement of bilateral relations between Colombia and Venezuela. She also had a private meeting. with the President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro.

On 3 May 2023, Alcocer and Petro made a state visit to Spain, as part of Petro's agenda, in which they discussed the central axes of Petro administration, such as global warming, education and Total Peace.

On 6 May 2023, Alcocer and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Álvaro Leyva, travelled to London as representatives of the Colombian government at the Coronation of Charles III and Camilla.

On Monday, 12 June 2023, Alcocer received the Queen of Spain who arrived in Cartagena, as part of her agenda with the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation.

In November 2023, she traveled to Venezuela for the second time together with the president, who met with the President of Venezuela Nicolás Maduro to discuss migration, energy transition and climate change.

On 29 February 2024, received Queen Maxima of the Netherlands at the Casa de Nariño, to later meet with President Gustavo Petro.

On 13 June 2024, traveled together with the president to Sweden for a state visit between Sweden and Colombia. On Saturday, 15 June 2024, would hold a meeting with representatives of the Ancla Foundation, the organization Grupo Colombia and the Swedish Human Rights Foundation where development projects were agreed for the benefit of children, cornflowers, women and the population of La Guajira.



Approval ratings, popularity and controversy
Alcocer has faced criticism from her detractors, who on multiple occasions have accused her of seeking to monopolize the functions and obligations of a public office; detractors have also claimed that the title of First Lady is a burden, merely protocol and ceremonial.

In September 2022 Vice-President Francia Márquez, expressed that her relationship with the President was strong. She also stated that she herself had refused the possibility of attending the funeral of the Queen Elizabeth II, saying that when the Minister of Foreign Affairs had proposed her to represent Colombia at the funeral she said she was not interested in attending the funeral of a representative of African oppression and slavery, taking as a reference that Great Britain was one of the most extensive colonial empires that oppressed the African race for many years, Marquez urged the media and the nation to take for granted that she was chosen to represent Afro-Colombians of her nation and to contribute from her position to the construction of peace.

In February 2023, Alcocer joined the celebration of the Carnival of Barranquilla;  this was the first time that a First Lady in office participated in this event. Alcocer had previously been the target of criticism for the celebrations held on the night of August 7 after the presidential inauguration of her husband, where videos were leaked in which she appeared dancing to the rhythm of cumbia, fandango and porro, native sounds of Córdoba and Sucre, native departments of the presidential couple.

Alcocer was harshly criticized, after a series of videos were leaked during her stay in Madrid, in which she made funny faces while the national anthem was playing, which was classified by some as disrespectful and rude, at the same time she was criticized for dancing in the street to the rhythm of the native mapalé dance  from the Pacific region of Colombia, performed by a group of Colombian musicians based in Spain.

In January 2024, Alcocer was a trend, after it was known through an investigation carried out by the newspaper La Silla Vacia the budget allocated to its private staff, which included transportation, makeup artist, fashion advisor and photographer, this news caused great controversy, since a first lady is not a public servant, which caused different opinions from different sectors.

In June 2024, Alcocer denounced a campaign to smear his name by members of the Petro administration. Through a press release, Alcocer asked the Attorney General, Luz Adriana Camargo, to investigate the disinformation campaign against her.

Fashion and style
On the day of the presidential election, Alcocer chose black pants with a blue wool vest. When she voted for her husband, she inspired everything from memes to analysis of what her four years in this position will be like.

On 7 August 2022, for her husband's inauguration ceremony, Alcocer used a design made up of a jumpsuit chosen for the occasion and designed exclusively for her. One detail included a brooch with the image of the Virgin of the Miraculous, symbol of devotion and faith; this was made in Santa Cruz de Mompox by designer Virgilio Madinah, and brought together faith and indigenous heritage.

Alcocer seeks to showcase the work of Colombian artisans, appearing in public with items such as Metalero handmade jewelry, a bag by designer Adriana Ureta and gift shoes from Norberto and Antonio.

During her state visit to unlink Spain in May 2023, she stood out for her use of practical ethnic outfits, representative of Colombian culture, especially with the use of symbolism of the colors fungi and white.

For her arrival at the Palacio Real de Madrid on May 3, 2023, Alcocer wore an ecru crepe dress, 100 percent wool, decorated with handcrafted appliqués, which were made by Diana Chirimía, from the Embera katío tribe. The fabrics were decorated with beads, by the indigenous embera Gladys Nacavera Güipa, while Cali designer Andres Totalora oversaw the completion of the ensemble.

While representing Colombia at the Coronation of Charles III, which she attended with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Álvaro Leyva, she wore a white dress with headdresses of unlink blue flowers, complemented with a unlink pale pink hat.