Raquel Garrido

French-Chilean politician
Raquel Garrido
Raquel Garrido in 2015
Member of the National Assembly
for Seine-Saint-Denis's 5th constituency
In office
22 June 2022 – 9 June 2024
Preceded byJean-Christophe Lagarde
Succeeded byAly Diouara [fr]
Personal details
Born (1974-04-23) 23 April 1974 (age 50)
Valparaíso, Chile
Political partyL'Après (2024–present)
Other political
affiliations		Socialist Party (1993–2008)
Left Party (2008–present)
La France Insoumise (2016–2017, 2020–2024)
SpouseAlexis Corbière

Raquel Garrido (Spanish pronunciation: [raˈkel ɣaˈriðo]; born 23 April 1974)[1] is a French-Chilean politician. Representing La France Insoumise (LFI), she was elected to the National Assembly for Seine-Saint-Denis's 5th constituency in the 2022 French legislative election. Running as a dissident without the endorsement of the New Popular Front (NPF), she reached the second round of the 2024 French legislative election and then withdrew.

Biography

Early life

Garrido was born in Valparaíso, Chile. She was born seven months after Augusto Pinochet's right-wing coup d'état and her left-wing parents were interned. The family were exiled and lived in Toronto before settling in Marly-le-Roi in Yvelines, Île-de-France.[1]

Garrido became vice president of SOS Racisme when she was 22.[1] As a student activist in the Union nationale des étudiants de France – Indépendante et démocratique [fr], she met Alexis Corbière, with whom she had three daughters.[2]

Early political career

In 2008, amidst the backdrop of the world financial crisis, Garrido left the Socialist Party for Jean-Luc Mélenchon's new Left Party. She cited the financial crisis and the success of new leftist parties in Latin America as a reason to abandon the social democratic former party.[3] In the 2012 French legislative election, she stood in the Second constituency for French residents overseas (Latin America and the Caribbean), coming fourth with 8.6% of the vote.[4]

Garrido became spokesperson of Mélenchon's new La France Insoumise (LFI) in 2017 but left this role the same year due to questions of impartiality over her role as a political pundit on Les Terriens du dimanche ! [fr] on C8. She said that she would opt for the punditry, as the party's size would provide a replacement, while there were few left-wing commentators on television.[5] She and Corbière were also subject to scrutiny over continuing to live in public housing in the city of Paris while he represented a constituency in nearby Seine-Saint-Denis and their household income was over the limit; they were ordered to leave by the city council.[6]

Member of the National Assembly

In the 2022 French legislative election, Garrido ran for LFI within the New Ecological and Social People's Union (NUPES) in Seine-Saint-Denis's 5th constituency. She defeated 20-year incumbent Jean-Christophe Lagarde of the Union of Democrats and Independents by 53.5% to 46.5% in the run-off.[7]

In November 2023, Garrido was suspended by LFI for four months for allegedly spreading false information about its members.[8] She had criticised Mélenchon's leadership, and criticised her punishment as being exactly that given by the party to its former coordinator Adrien Quatennens for a domestic violence conviction.[9]

In the 2024 French legislative election, Garrido was one of four LFI dissidents rejecting the New Popular Front (NFP) coalition who reached the second round; one of the others was her husband. She came third in the first round, with 23.7% of the vote, behind Aly Diouara [fr] of the miscellaneous left and NFP, and Jean-Christophe Lagarde's wife Aude (also UDI).[10] She withdrew from the race, allowing Diouara to win the run-off.[11] After the election, the dissidents from LFI established L'Après.[12]

References

  1. ^ a b c "VIDEO. Qui est Raquel Garrido, l'Insoumise par qui vient la polémique?" [VIDEO. Who is Raquel Garrido, the France Insoumise politician causing controversy?]. 20 minutes (in French). 4 October 2017. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  2. ^ Le Vaillant, Luc (19 December 2016). "Alexis Corbière, désir de rouge" [Alexis Corbière, red desire]. Libération (in French). Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  3. ^ "France's Left Front hopes to 'reinvent' left". Al Jazeera. 30 April 2012. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  4. ^ Flamand, Alice (4 June 2012). "La France de l'étranger voit rose" [France abroad sees pink]. French Morning (in French). Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  5. ^ ""Je tourne la page" : Raquel Garrido quitte La France insoumise et arrête la politique" ["I'm turning the page": Raquel Garrido leaves La France Insoumise and leaves politics] (in French). France Info. 12 November 2017. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  6. ^ "Alexis Corbière et Raquel Garrido occupent toujours le HLM parisien malgré les engagements à le quitter" [Alexis Corbière and Raquel Garrido still occupy their public housing in Paris despite demandes to leave] (in French). France Info. 11 October 2017. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  7. ^ Farge, Baptiste (19 June 2022). "Législatives: Raquel Garrido met fin à vingt ans de règne de Jean-Christophe Lagarde en Seine-Saint-Denis" [Legislative elections: Raquel Garrido puts an end to twenty years of the reign of Jean-Christophe Lagarde in Seine-Saint-Denis]. Libération (in French). Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  8. ^ Loek, Aurélie (7 November 2023). "Raquel Garrido sanctionnée par LFI pour avoir nui "au bon fonctionnement collectif"" [Raquel Garrido sanctioned by LFI for having harmed "the collective workings"] (in French). TF1. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  9. ^ Cassini, Sandrine (8 November 2023). "Les sanctions prises contre Raquel Garrido ouvrent une nouvelle crise à La France insoumise" [Sanctions taken against Raquel Garrido open a new crisis in La France Insoumise]. Le Monde (in French). Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  10. ^ Carriat, Julie (1 July 2024). "Législatives 2024 : à La France insoumise, les dissidents Corbière, Garrido, Simonnet et Davi se qualifient pour le second tour" [2024 legislative election: in La France Insoumise, dissidents Corbière, Garrido, Simonnet and Davi qualify for the second round]. Le Monde (in French). Retrieved 12 July 2024.
  11. ^ Coulet, Sarah (2 July 2024). "Législatives 2024 : ex-députée et candidate LFI dissidente en Seine-Saint-Denis, Raquel Garrido se retire" [2024 legislative election: ex-deputy and dissident LFI candidate in Seine-Saint-Denis, Raquel Garrido withdraws] (in French). Actu.fr. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
  12. ^ Giandomenico, Léa (12 July 2024). "C'est quoi L'Après, le mouvement lancé par les dissidents de La France insoumise ?" [What is L'Après, the movement launched by dissidents from La France Insoumise?] (in French). Actu.fr. Retrieved 15 July 2024.