Preceded by Ventura Diaz Mejia Role Civil engineer Succeeded by Elsa Noguera Name Alejandro Chaljub Party Radical Change | Political party Radical Change Parents Fuad Ricardo Char Abdala Nationality Colombian Spouse Katia Nule (m. 1999) | |
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Preceded by Guillermo Hoenigsberg Bornacelly Born 16 April 1966 (age 58)
Barranquilla, Atlantico, Colombia ( 1966-04-16 ) Relations Fuad Char Abdala (father)
Arturo Char Chaljub (brother) Children Alejandro Char Nule
Mariana Char Nule Education Universidad del Norte, Colombia Grandparents Erlinda Abdala, Ricardo Char Zaslawy | ||
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.
Family
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.
