Jaime Andrés Beltrán, an evangelical pastor nicknamed “the Colombian Bukele” when he won the Bucaramanga mayoralty in 2023, celebrated with euphoria on Sunday evening. The decision of the Council of State to dismiss him in August for dual activism and the calling of atypical elections to elect his replacement did not undermine his power: his candidate, Cristian Portilla, collected 45.7% of the votes, almost 30 points more than his main opponent. “We didn’t beat them by 5,000 votes, like they said. We beat them by over 40,000!” he exclaimed. Even though abstention exceeded 30% and apathy was evident in the streets, no one predicted such a resounding victory.
The former mayor sought to nationalize his victory and dedicated it to the far-right Abelardo de la Espriella, a presidential candidate next year. “This is only the beginning of what is happening for Bucaramanga, but also for Colombia. Today we have a mayor and tomorrow we will have a president,” he declared before pronouncing a military salute that characterizes De la Espriella and declaring himself “firm for the Fatherland”. The ultra, who even attended the closing of Portilla’s campaign a week ago, achieved victory thanks to a message in
Analysts expected the race to be more balanced with the main opponent, Carlos Bueno, receiving only 18.9% of the vote. The governor of Santander, retired general Juvenal Díaz Mateus, had bet a lot on this candidate: although he denies any break with Beltrán, it is an open secret that they have distanced themselves since the 2023 elections. Bueno had garnered the support of the Conservative Party, the League of Anti-Corruption Leaders, the MIRA party and Colombia Justa y Libres, a Christian community that had supported Beltrán in 2023. In a campaign with few ideological differences, he had focused on his long academic and professional career as an expert in transportation systems to differentiate himself from Portilla, known primarily for having been an advisor to Beltrán.
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