Shirley Franco | |
|---|---|
_Chamber_of_Deputies_of_Bolivia.jpg) Official portrait, 2018 | |
| Member of the Chamber of Deputies from Cochabamba | |
| In office 18 January 2015 – 3 November 2020 | |
| Substitute | Enrique Siles |
| Preceded by | Mauricio Muñoz |
| Succeeded by | Saúl Lara |
| Constituency | Party list |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Shirley Franco Rodríguez 4 June 1987 Cochabamba, Bolivia |
| Political party | Social Democratic Movement (2019–present) |
| Other political affiliations | National Unity Front (2009–2019) |
| Alma mater | Higher University of San Simón |
| Occupation |
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| Signature | _Shirley_Franco.svg) |
Shirley Franco Rodríguez (Spanish: [ʃiɾˈlej]; born 4 June 1987) is a Bolivian political scientist and politician who served as a party-list member of the Chamber of Deputies from Cochabamba from 2015 to 2020. She previously served on the Cochabamba Municipal Council from 2010 to 2014.
Raised in the social conflicts of the early to mid-2000s, Franco entered politics within a year of graduating from university. She joined the National Unity Front in 2009, with which she unsuccessfully contested a seat in the Chamber of Deputies. Undeterred, Franco saw better results in the following year's local elections, winning a seat on the Cochabamba Municipal Council.
In 2014, Franco returned to national politics and was elected to represent the Democratic Unity coalition in the Chamber of Deputies, becoming one of the youngest parliamentarians in the legislature. Amid the fragmentation of the opposition caucus in the Legislative Assembly, Franco defected from National Unity and joined the Social Democratic Movement, which in 2019 nominated her to accompany Oscar Ortiz as his running mate. Having failed in her bid for the vice presidency, Franco sought reelection in the snap 2020 general election, but her candidacy was annulled in conjunction with her party's withdrawal from the race. Though considered a possible contender for the Cochabamba mayoralty, Franco declined to run.