In Colombian City, Patronage, Not Politics, Sway Elections – Barron’s

The Chars, estimated by Forbes in 2020 to be one of the 10 richest families in Colombia, have hands in almost every possible facet of business and political life in the city of 1.4 million.

Directly or through allies, the Char clan controls city hall, the regional assembly, and has six representatives in the national Congress. The family owns a supermarket chain, a radio network, a popular local football team, a bank and swaths of real estate.

And on Sunday, Alejandro Char is widely expected to become mayor.

He’s already had the job twice before, while the man he is likely to replace, incumbent Mayor Jaime Pumarejo, is seen by critics as little more than a placeholder, keeping the seat safe for Char’s return, given that under the law he could not serve consecutive terms.

Opinion polls show 57-year-old Char — who likes to go by “Alex” — leading with more than 80 percent of voter intention ahead of Sunday’s vote. He was already mayor from 2008 to 2012 and again from 2016 to 2020.

“I come back because the people want me,” he said recently.

He may not be wrong. Many here credit the Char family for helping bring prosperity and they’re willing to overlook the allegedly unsavory aspects.

Among other recent improvements, the family is credited with the erection of an enormous new events center for Barranquilla and revamping the promenade on the Magdalena River.

The people of Barranquilla are dealing with “a two-faced reality,” Marco Orozco, a former, unsuccessful, mayoral candidate, told AFP.

“During the past 16 years, they’ve seen (public) works they had never seen. And even if they are tarnished by corruption scandals, the people say: ‘At least today, things are being done, so steal!’,” he said.

Estefania Montoya, a researcher at the National University of Colombia, said the Char family is an example of the dynasties that have ruled the conflict-scarred and graft-hobbled South American country for decades.

Political power in Colombia, she said, allows control over “the contracts that are made, with whom they are made, and the bribes.”

The independent MOE think-tank has accused “Casa Char” of operating a vote-buying scheme, paying in everything from cash to public contracts and household appliances.

Alex Char’s brother Arturo, a former senator, was recently arrested for his alleged involvement in one of the country’s largest vote-buying networks.

But many inhabitants of Barranquilla told AFP they gave little thought to the allegations.

“Alex Char is a man of the people,” said Carola Canizalez, 60, who lives in a poor suburb of the city.

The Foundation for Press Freedom (FLIP) points out that between 2020 and 2022 the Char-controlled city council spent more than $22 million on advertising.

Not everyone is convinced.

One carpenter in a poor neighborhood, where the canal is filled with garbage, said he’d been offered 70,000 Colombian pesos (about $16.50) to vote for Char. Not enough.

He does not think the Chars “care about the poor,” so he’ll “take the money and vote for whomever I want.”

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