Colombia’s Cattle Rancher’s Federation Has A Big Beef With Medellín Mayor Daniel Quintero

The head of Colombia’s cattle rancher’s federation, FEDEGAN, José Félix Lafaurie has denounced Medellín Mayor Daniel Quintero for deploying municipal resources to launch an anti-beef campaign, right in the heart of Antioquia, which is Colombia’s cattle heartland.

While its no surprise that cattle ranchers would have a problem with this, it is arguable whether that is how the city should be using its resources. Even if so, Lafaurie exposed the mayor via his Twitter feed for not practicing what he apparently preaches.

In Lafaurie’s photo, one see the mayor slicing into a side of beef, Brazilian Rodizo style, with his wife, Diana Osorio, a vegetarian activist, looking on. In an interview with BLU radio, the mayor’s wife seemed to come out as being behind the campaign. She says she doesn’t allow red meat in her house, but that the mayor may have cravings that he takes care of in restaurants. She says “You can’t become the annoying radical…” but FEDEGAN seems to think that’s exactly what she has become.

The mayor’s wife, Diana Osorio on BLU Radio (Spanish) says: “I wasn’t eating the big chop!”

Quintero’s favorite strategy is to call anyone who opposes him either a tool of former President Alvaro Uribe, or part of a conspiracy backed by a coalition of Medellín’s largest businesses known as Grupo Empresarial Antioqueño (GEA). Lafaurie’s wife is none other than Maria Fernanda Cabál, who is more Uribista than Uribe himself. Still, Lafaurie was able less than a month ago to meet with leftist President Gustavo Petro and work out a wide-ranging, multi-billion peso land reform deal.

Three questions:

1. How is the mayor telling everyone not to eat beef while he enjoys big rodizos not like the pastor who preaches clean living while frequenting prostitutes…because of his “cravings?”
2. Is the anti-beef campaign a legitimate use of municipal resources? Or one might alternatively ask: if the campaign doesn’t use city funds, who is paying for it?
3. Are people who see this as hypocrisy honest, or are they part of a vast conspiracy between the Uribistas and GEA?

Above photo: ¡Vamos a vivir sabroso! Daniel Quintero’s anti-meat campaign, Daniel Quintero ready for steak. (Photos: Twitter account of José Félix Lafurie)