María Fernanda Cabal Molina (born August 8, 1964) is a Colombian political scientist, businesswoman, politician, and

Senator of Colombia The Senate of the Republic of Colombia () is the upper house of the Congress of Colombia, with the lower house being the Chamber of Representatives of Colombia, Chamber of Representatives. The Senate has 108 members elected for concurrent (non ...

. A member of the Democratic Center Party, she has held her seat since 2018 and is her party's most voted-for member of

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

. Born in

Cali Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,280,522 residents estimate by National Administrative Department of Statistics, DANE in 2023. The city span ...

, Cauca Valley, Cabal graduated from the University of the Andes in Bogotá, D.C. She began her career as a Member of the Chamber of Representatives in

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

. Cabal was first elected to the Senate in

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

. She was re-elected in

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

. Cabal is a female member of the Democratic Center, the highest-ranking member in the Senate. Cabal is known for her far-right views. She was one of the members of her party who voted against the plebiscite for the

peace process A peace process is the set of political sociology, sociopolitical negotiations, agreements and actions that aim to solve a specific armed conflict. Definitions Prior to an armed conflict occurring, peace processes can include the prevention of ...

Personal life

Early life

María Fernanda Cabal Molina was born on August 8, 1964, in

, Cauca Valley, where she lived until her

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

years. She later moved to Bogotá, D.C. to begin her career as a

political scientist Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

at the University of the Andes where she joined the

Political Science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

Department as coordinator of the Democracy Program, which was funded by the

National Endowment for Democracy The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) is a quasi-autonomous non-governmental organization in the United States founded in 1983 with the stated aim of advancing democracy worldwide and counter communism, communist influence abroad, by prom ...

. During the 90's, Cabal participated as a member of the student movement that later promoted the Seventh Ballot, which called for a constitutional reform through the convening of the National Constituent Assembly.

Religion

Cabal was once at birth

baptized Baptism (from ) is a Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by sprinkling or pouring water on the head, or by immersing in water either partially or completely, traditionally three ...

under the

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

rite, by her parents in 1964, despite this she declares herself as a

Lapsed Catholic A lapsed Catholic is a Catholic who is non-practicing. Such a person may still identify as a Catholic, and remains one according to Catholic canon law. Interpretations The ''Merriam-Webster Dictionary'' definition of "lapsed" in relation to "la ...

, and has shown herself to be an admirer of the

Evangelical Protestant Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of the Christian ...

rite, which she has expressed to attend on multiple occasions.

Political positions

Cabal is known for her conservative positions. As a member of congress, she maintained close relations with the

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

administration in the United States and

Jair Bolsonaro Jair Messias Bolsonaro (; born 21 March 1955) is a Brazilian politician and former military officer who served as the 38th president of Brazil from 2019 to 2023. He previously served as a member of Brazil's Chamber of Deputies (Brazil), Chamb ...

of Brazil, as well as being a constant critic of leftist movements in Colombia and Latin America. She is in favor of controversial policies such as promoting the right of civilians to bear arms to defend themselves and the rejection of the peace agreement between the FARC guerrillas and the Colombian government. Cabal would sign the

Madrid Charter The Madrid Forum (Spanish: ''Foro Madrid'') is an anti-communist organization created on 26 October 2020 by the Disenso Foundation think tank of the conservative Spanish political party Vox. Background According to ''The Rio Times'', the aim ...

of the

Madrid Forum The Madrid Forum (Spanish: ''Foro Madrid'') is an anti-communist organization created on 26 October 2020 by the Disenso Foundation think tank of the conservative Spanish political party Vox. Background According to ''The Rio Times'', the aim ...

, joining the right-wing group organized by the Spanish political party Vox.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cabal, María Fernanda 1964 births People from Cali Living people Politicians from Cauca Valley Colombian anti-communists Colombian businesspeople Colombian political scientists Women political scientists Colombian women in politics Members of the Senate of Colombia Members of the Chamber of Representatives of Colombia Democratic Center (Colombia) politicians University of Los Andes (Colombia) alumni