Colombia's Hard-Fought Mayoral Races

Colombians go to the polls October 30 to vote in regional elections. The outcome will determine the future governors, mayors, department assemblymen, municipal councilmen, and local governing boards of Colombia in 32 states and 1,102 municipalities. In all, more than 100,000 candidates will compete to fill these positions. Of particular interest are the mayoral elections in the country’s three largest cities: Bogota, Medellin, and Cali.

The candidates in Bogota are running to replace Mayor Samuel Moreno Rojas. Suspended in May amid apparent irregularities in the rewarding of public works contracts in the so-called “Contracting Carousel,” Moreno was formally charged in September. The scandal has been called the most expensive in Bogota’s history, costing the city approximately $119 million. It also damaged the reputation of Moreno’s Polo Democrático, which won the last two elections. Three candidates lead to succeed Moreno: Gustavo Petro of the Movimiento Progresistas, former mayor (1998-2001) Enrique Peñalosa of the Green Party, and Gina Parody of the Movimiento Gina Parody Alcadesa. According to a CNC poll on the news website La Silla Vacía, voters are almost evenly divided between the three, with Petro—a former guerrilla leader--maintaining a slight lead.

The Medellin mayor’s race is a close call between Aníbal Gaviria and Luis Pérez. A former mayor (2001-2004) of the city, Pérez is remembered for social works, but his tenure also saw corruption allegations and misuse of public funds. Pérez’s campaign for mayor is tainted by repeated accusations, including from sitting Medellin mayor Alonso Salazar, that Pérez is associated with paramilitary groups. While Pérez denies these links, and has accused Salazar of tampering with elections, similar accusations plague Anibal Gaviria after a former paramilitary chief, Freddy Rendón Herrera—alias “El Alemán” —stated he helped Gaviria win election as governor of Antioquia in 2003. Gaviria maintains a two-point lead, and can count on the support of nine ex-mayors of Medellin, including the popular candidate for governor, Sergio Fajado.

The Cali mayoral election will almost certainly be won by Rodrigo Guerrero—who also served as mayor from 1992 to 1995—despite an arduous campaign. Guerrero registered late for the campaign, and had to collect nearly 120,000 signatures to get his name on the ballot. An investigation found irregularities in these signatures, including a large number of repeated names and deceased persons. Guerrero’s candidacy also faces challenges due to accusations of vested interests, though his name was cleared. Guerrero currently enjoys a large lead over his opponents, especially after other candidates withdrew from the race, backing him.

Amid the corruption and violence tainting the elections—more than 41 candidates have been killed since February, twice the number of the last elections—the Misión de Observación Electoral (a private company) suggested the presence of special observers to ensure transparency.  Earlier this month the government signed an agreement with the Organization of American States to have the agency monitor the elections. President Juan Manuel Santos also announced that he will miss the XXI Ibero-American Summit to supervise the elections. 

Learn More:

• El Tiempo’s Election 2011 webpage.  
• La Silla Vacía Electoral Coverage.
• Website of Colombia’s National Electoral Council.
• Question and Answer on the local election from the National Registry
• Colombia Reports’ profiles of the main candidates in the mayoral elections.
• Misión de Observación Electoral report on Political Violence.
• Foreign Affairs piece on fighting corruption in the elections.