Barranquilla’s Mayor Alejandro Char Tops Approval Ratings Despite Ongoing Legal Troubles

The most recent survey conducted by the polling firms Guarumo and Ecoanalítica has revealed that Alejandro Char, the mayor of Barranquilla, holds the highest approval rating among mayors of Colombia’s capital cities. According to the poll, Char enjoys 85.4% approval rate, with only 10.6% of respondents disapproving of his administration.
This impressive public support comes despite Char’s current judicial investigations.

On January 22, the Office of the Attorney General of Colombia questioned him in relation to an ongoing probe into alleged misconduct in public office and falsification of public documents. The investigation arises from four controversial appointments made during his current term, which began in 2024.

A formal complaint was filed in June 2024 by a citizen, José Raúl Rodríguez Jiménez, who alleges that Char violated public employment regulations by appointing former city council members to key roles in his administration immediately after they lost reelection bids. The appointees include Elania Redondo Peña (Barranquilla’s Secretary of Human Resource Management), Andrés Felipe Rengifo Lemus (Head of Citizen Participation Office), Juan Carlos Ospino Acuña (Secretary of Culture and Heritage of Barranquilla), and Richard Manuel Fernández Barraza (Head of Port Affairs).

According to the complaint, these appointments went against rules requiring a one-year period for former council members before assuming public office, unless they have also resigned from their political parties.
The complaint, as reported by the local daily El Espectador, highlights that “Char ignored, despite the team of advisors that work in his cabinet, the ‘Disqualification and Incompatibility Regime for Public Officials’. It states that city council members, upon leaving office or ceasing to be public servants, must wait 12 months to be able to hold public office and, likewise, must resign from their respective parties.” The newspaper reported that it had access to the official document outlining the allegations.

Char is also in the news due to his past ties to the construction sector. Between 2002 and 2005, his company, Alejandro Char & Cía., developed a series of residential complexes in the Campo Alegre neighborhood, an area long identified as geologically unstable. Despite warnings as early as 1997 from Ingeominas, the city amended its urban development plan to allow the projects to proceed. Years later, more than 400 families were affected by serious structural damage to their homes, forcing the city to spend over 55 billion pesos on rental subsidies and hillside stabilization. Some of the buildings were evacuated in 2011 due to the risk of collapse.

In response to the ongoing investigations into this matter, Jaime Berdugo was appointed as ‘alcalde ad hoc’ (interim mayor) of Barranquilla on April 15, 2025, by Interior Minister Armando Benedetti. Berdugo, a lawyer and former employee of entities linked to contractor Euclides Torres, a political figure with ties to the Char administration, has been tasked with overseeing the city’s handling of claims related to the damaged housing projects. His role includes evaluating legal and administrative actions connected to Alejandro Char & Cía.’s developments, including the projects Ciudad del Sol II, Terragona, Barcelona, Parque 100, and Parque 98.

As a very experienced politician, Char has served three terms as mayor and ran as a presidential pre-candidate in 2022. Legal controversies have been common alongside his political career so it is not a surprise that this time, despite the legal pressures, Char’s popularity among Barranquilla’s residents remains strong.

Headline photo: Alejandro Char, mayor of Barranquilla (X / @AlejandroChar)