The mayor of Medellin, Daniel Quintero Calle, publicly declared war on the Democratic Center on the electoral stage and the members of that community have responded to him over the hours. Senator María Fernanda Cabal reproached the president for the decision to renew his cabinet to “defeat Uribism.”
It all started on the morning of September 29 when the resignation of all the members of the office was announced from the district administration. That measure made a noise because it was Quintero Calle himself who asked his officials to formally present his resignation. That message shocked the city.
However, the debate is fixed on the justification that the mayor gave to remove his allies from the offices. He warned that the new group of secretaries will be ready at the end of October to close his management with a “golden brooch”. But this work team must also fulfill another objective: to show results so that Uribismo does not prosper.
Senator María Fernanda Cabal posted a comment on her social networks next to the text where the mayor announced the resignation of the district employees: “Mayor Quintero, a government team is not formed to defeat Uribeism; is formed to govern and serve the citizens,” the congresswoman wrote.
Although Cabal’s response was published last Friday, Daniel Quintero Calle revived it in the last hours with a sour message about the chair that the senator gave him: “You formed a government to make false positives and nobody told you anything,” the district president wrote on his Twitter account.
Faced with this new scenario, there are no responses from the Democratic Center congresswoman. But her caucus mates have denounced this weekend that they consider themselves victims of the mayor of Medellin because an alleged “persecution with acute cruelty” against the right-wing community would be advanced.
Now, sources close to the president explained that the new move was executed on the political board with a view to the 2023 local elections. He hopes that the Independents movement, with which he became mayor in 2019, will have a leading role in the paisa electorate, but the Democratic Center could hinder the result.
Youth will be the argument that will lead the group led by Quintero Calle to the cards. At the moment, the nearby nucleus recognizes four people who meet the profile that you want to show the face of Independents. They all held top positions in Medellin.
Juan Carlos Upegui is the one with the most possibilities because he is the cousin of Diana Osorio, social manager of the city and wife of the president. He took the reins of the Secretariat of Nonviolence when the Movement won the elections in 2019. He then jumped ship to promote the name of Gustavo Petro and Francia Márquez in Antioquia.
There is also Andree Uribe Montoya, one of the most relevant pieces on the chessboard because, according to his relatives, he has shown finesse in politics from the Ministry of Health. She replaced Quintero when he was suspended by the Attorney General’s Office for alleged participation in politics in favor of the Historical Pact.
Another that becomes relevant is Juan Pablo Ramírez, a key piece of the political network of Independientes. This official was in charge of the Medellín Social Inclusion Secretariat and later jumped into Petro’s presidential campaign. He was recently presented as Secretary of Government in charge of the city.
In the last position of the people who intend to present themselves to the local elections to reach the administration is Alejandro Arias, who operated until this September 29 as the Secretary of Economic Development. A few weeks ago, Quintero put him in charge of running the district while he was on an agenda in the United States.