Barranquilla (Colombia) – The city of Barranquilla, the most important in the Colombian Caribbean, known for its carnival and for being the birthplace of Shakira and Sofía Vergara, will take a leap in national politics as an alternate seat of Government by decision of the president-elect, Abelardo de la Espriella, who will take office on August 7.
During the election campaign, De la Espriella promised to change the centralist vision that has marked Colombian institutions since independence, whose center of power has always been in Bogotá, and to give more power to the regions, something he has ratified with the first actions of his future government.
“I am not going to defend centralism (…) I am going to defend decentralization, that is why I am going to govern from the regions, with you, and in addition to that, one of our first legislative act projects is for the city of Barranquilla to be recognized as the alternate capital of Colombia,” said De la Espriella the day before in Montería, capital of the Caribbean department of Córdoba.
The decentralization proposed by the future head of state will also extend to other major capital cities such as Medellín (Antioquia), in the northwest, and Cali (Valle del Cauca), in the southwest; but Barranquilla, capital of the Atlántico department, already has greater relevance.
The strategic importance of Barranquilla
Known as ‘The Golden Gate of Colombia’ because progress entered the country through its port in the late 19th and first half of the 20th century, primarily brought by German and Lebanese immigrants, Barranquilla is today an important commercial and industrial hub in northern Colombia, which is also beginning to grow as a tourist destination.
Historian and university professor Diógenes Rosero told EFE that De la Espriella’s decision “is an unequivocal signal from the Government towards the search for regional governability in terms of approaching the territories, but also political groups, especially those that were part of its electoral base during the campaign.”
“This contrasts with the difficult relationship that the current Government had with the territories and with political agents from different areas of the country,” added Rosero, a professor at the University of the Atlantic.
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Rosero believes that the president-elect’s initiative represents “an opportunity for the region,” provided it translates into a government that involves different political and social sectors and promotes strategic projects, such as the recovery of the Magdalena River, which has its mouth in the city; energy autonomy and regional connectivity.
“Without a doubt, it implies a logistical and methodological challenge that will surely have an impact on the upcoming local and regional elections,” stated the professor.
Political ties
The relevance of Barranquilla as an alternative power center is also explained by the close personal and political ties that De la Espriella maintains with leaders in the region, including the group led by the Char family, one of the most prominent in the Colombian Caribbean for more than two decades.
Those ties began to be reflected in the formation of the future ministerial cabinet with the appointment of the former governor of Atlántico and former mayor of Barranquilla, Elsa Noguera, as Minister of Transport, and former senator Mauricio Gómez Amín as Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism.
The mayor of Barranquilla, Alejandro Char, assured -on his social media- that these appointments “fill them with pride” because they are Barranquilla natives with “technical capabilities to execute and take this country to another level.”
Since his victory in the runoff election on June 21, De la Espriella, raised in Montería and based in Barranquilla, where he has his residence and one of his law firm’s offices, has used this city as a base to form his government team and for meetings with his future ministers, an exercise that was previously only done in Bogotá.
