Alejandro Char Chaljub | |
---|---|
Alejandro Char on Political Campaign
|
|
Mayor of Barranquilla | |
Assumed office 1 January 2016 |
|
Preceded by | Elsa Noguera |
Mayor of Barranquilla | |
In office 1 January 2008 – 31 December 2011 |
|
Preceded by | Guillermo Hoenigsberg Bornacelly |
Succeeded by | Elsa Noguera |
57th Governor of Atlántico | |
In office 21 April 2003 – 1 January 2004 |
|
Preceded by | Ventura Díaz Mejía |
Succeeded by | Carlos Rodado Noriega |
Personal details | |
Born |
Barranquilla, Atlántico, Colombia |
16 April 1966
Nationality | Colombian |
Political party | Radical Change |
Spouse(s) | Katia Nule Marino (1999-present) |
Relations |
Fuad Char Abdala (father) Arturo Char Chaljub (brother) |
Children | Alejandro Char Nule Mariana Char Nule |
Alma mater | Universidad del Norte (B.Sc.) |
Profession | Civil Engineer |
Website | www |
Alejandro "Álex" Char Chaljub (born 16 April 1966) is the current Mayor of Barranquilla , who also has previously served in the same office (2008-2011). A Civil Engineer and a politician with the Radical Change Party, he was councilor of Liberal Party in 1997. Later he ran in 2000 for the Governorship of the Department of Atlántico, but initial ballot results gave victory to his contender Ventura Díaz Mejía. After a lengthy and often criticized process, the Administrative Supreme Court of Colombia reviewed the election results and found Char to be rightful winner of the race and allowed him to serve the remaining period of his term in 2003.
In 2007 he was elected Mayor or Barranquilla with 221,625 votes equivalent to 58.38% of the total vote, the biggest margin of votes in the Mayoral election history of Barranquilla, and according to an Invamer/Gallup poll, Char had a 75% approval rating in April 2008, the best ranked mayor of Colombia, a statistic that grew to an 80% approval rating at the end of 2008. In 2015 he was reelected for Mayor of Barranquilla beating the only adversary, the ex councilor independent Rafael Sanchez Anillo.
Alejandro comes from a well established and influential, Arab-Colombian family, he is the son of Fuad Char Abdala, a Liberal former Senator of Colombia and former Minister of Economic Development, and Ambassador of Colombia to Portugal, and his wife Adela Chaljub de Char. His brother, Arturo Char Chaljub was also Senator of Colombia, as is his cousin David Char Navas. His other brother, Antonio Char is the president of the supermarket chain Olímpica, and many of his relatives are shareholders of Junior Barranquilla, the city's foremost soccer team. He married with Katia Nule Marino on August 1999, also of Arab descent and a former winner of the Miss Carnival of Barranquilla pageant in 1995. She is the daughter of former Ministry of Mines and Energy and Minister of Communications Guido Alberto Nule Amín, and of Ginger Marino Mendoza, a lawyer and activist. Together they have two children, Alejandro Char Nule and Mariana Char Nule.