Local elections in Colombia’s Caribbean region have consolidated the power of clans with ties to organized crime and political corruption.
Despite having been tied to illegal armed groups and political corruption, these clans’ candidates in some cases won local and regional elections with an overwhelming majority.
Alejandro Char, for example, was reelected mayor of Barranquilla with an overwhelming 72.5% of the votes despite a leaked Mexican intelligence report that linked him to the Sinaloa Cartel and the arrest of his brother, former Senator Arturo Char, on election fraud charges.
The Char Clan’s ally in the Atlantico governor race, Eduardo Verano, was convincingly elected governor of the Atlantico province.
In Cesar, Elvia Milena Sanjuan was elected governor after receiving the support of the Gnecco crime family whose matriarch, Cielo Gnecco, went missing after a judge ordered her arrest on homicide charges a few weeks ago.
Ernesto Miguel Orozco was elected mayor of Cesar’s capital, Valledupar with a staggering 90% of the votes, despite evidence that the local politician signed contracts with a now-defunct front company of paramilitary organization AUC.
Bolivar’s governor-elect, Yamil Hernando Arana, won the regional elections with 70% despite an ongoing Supreme Court investigation into his alleged involvement in the embezzlement of funds meant to promote peace.
In Sucre, voters elected former Sincelejo Mayor Lucy Ines Garcia, who is being investigated by the Inspector General’s Office over her alleged irregularities in a contract to pave the province’s roads.
Former Congressman Yahir Acuña was elected Sincelejo’s new mayor despite an ongoing Supreme Court investigation into his alleged ties to paramilitary groups and alleged vote-buying practices in the 2015 elections.
In Cordoba, convicted former Governor Edwin Besaile will be succeeded by his brother-in-law, Erasmo Zuleta, who won the regional elections with more than 60% of the votes.
The prodigy of former Magdalena Governor Carlos Caicedo, Rafael Alejandro Martinez, was elected governor despite an ongoing Inspector General investigation into their alleged involvement in corruption.