As Colombia’s presidential elections draw nearer (first round, May 31), confrontations among political leaders — many of whom also hold highly influential public office — are intensifying. One of them is the clash between President Gustavo Petro and Medellin Mayor Federico Gutierrez.
The two are ideological and political opponents and rarely miss an opportunity to trade barbs.
Petro ally levels serious accusations against Antioquia
Gutierrez is not the only local leader at odds with the head of state. It could be said that Petro maintains good relations mainly with politicians and authorities from southwestern Colombia, where much of his political base is concentrated.
However, Gutierrez governs the capital of Antioquia, a department that Petro’s presidential ally, Senator Ivan Cepeda, has accused of being the cradle of paramilitarism, drug trafficking, and state violence. Such remarks led the departmental assembly to declare Cepeda persona non grata.
In response to these accusations, Gutierrez went on the offensive. Writing on the social media platform X, he said he hopes that “a president who truly cares about Antioquia and the different regions of the country will arrive.”
He added: “Petro, nearly four years of your misgovernment have gone by saying ‘I would do’ — and you did not do what you were supposed to. I’ve been mayor of Medellin for two years and almost three months; we have done a great deal and will continue doing so.”
President Petro, known for not remaining silent, chose to reply on the same platform, posting a chart comparing national government transfers to higher education in Antioquia with those of previous administrations.
Gutierrez fired back again, this time with a list of points. “First: We rescued the city from the disaster in which we received it, after the administration of your political ally [Daniel Quintero], those who looted Medellin. Second: You dismantled the ‘Mi Casa Ya’ program, and it has been us ensuring financial closure so that the lowest-income people can access decent housing, since you erased Antioquia from the housing subsidy map,” the mayor continued.
Federico Gutierrez invokes Gustavo Petro’s past
He went further. “Third: From our administration, we defined the highest education budget — 8 trillion pesos (US$2.15 billion). Not to mention Buen Comienzo 365. We have also achieved the lowest rate of acute malnutrition in history among children aged 0 to 5. Zero child deaths from malnutrition during our administration.”
Gutierrez added that his administration is renovating 421 public educational institutions and building 10 new mega-schools. “And in higher education for our most vulnerable youth, Medellin is investing a historic figure of more than 1.2 trillion pesos (US$330 million).”
He also highlighted investments made by his administration in the district’s universities, including funding for scholarships, benefits, and incentives for research in higher education.
The level of hostility between the mayor and the president escalated further when Gutierrez pointed out that his administration runs its own program for at-risk youth, called Parceros. “It would be good if he learned from it. It could have helped him a lot in his youth,” the mayor wrote, in a clear reference to Petro’s guerrilla past.
Faced with this overwhelming barrage of data, President Petro had not responded as of Wednesday afternoon. It remains possible that he will not stay silent this time either, as what is at stake is not merely each leader’s record, but the presidential elections, which are fast approaching. So the clash between Gustavo Petro and Federico Gutierrez is likely to go on.