Santiago de Cali, or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,280,522 residents estimate by DANE in 2023. The city spans 560.3 km2 (216.3 sq mi) with 120.9 km2 (46.7 sq mi) of urban area, making Cali the second-largest city in the country by area and the third most populous after Bogotá and Medellín. As the only major Colombian city with access to the Pacific Coast, Cali is the main urban and economic center in the south of the country, and has one of Colombia's fastest-growing economies. The city was founded on 25 July 1536 by the Spanish explorer Sebastián de Belalcázar.
The Colombian Liberal Party is a centre to centre-left political party in Colombia. It was founded as a classical liberal party but later developed a more social-democratic tradition, joining the Socialist International in 1999.
El Tiempo is a nationally distributed broadsheet daily newspaper in Colombia launched on January 30, 1911. As of 2019, El Tiempo had the highest circulation in Colombia with an average daily weekday of 1,137,483 readers, rising to 1,921,571 readers for the Sunday edition.
El Cerrito is a town and municipality located in the Department of Valle del Cauca, Colombia. This is one of the 42 municipalities of the department.
Henry Loaiza Ceballos aka El Alacrán is a former Colombian drug trafficker and a member of the Cali Cartel. Loaiza was mainly in charge of the military apparatus of the organization, but was also involved in the shipment of illegal drugs.
Dilian Francisca Toro Torres is a Colombian physician and politician, she served as Senator of Colombia from 2002 to 2013. She was investigated by the Supreme Court of Justice of Colombia on charges of money laundering, and remained under preventive detention from 25 July 2012 to 1 August 2013 at the Police Centre for Higher Studies (Cespo) in Bogotá. She currently serves as Governor of Valle del Cauca Department.
Claudia Blum Capurro is a Colombian psychologist and politician who served as foreign minister. A veteran Senator, she became the first woman to serve as President of the Senate of Colombia. She also served as the 26th Permanent Representative of Colombia to the United Nations.
Marta Lucía Ramírez Blanco is a Colombian lawyer and politician who served as 12th Vice President of Colombia from 2018 to 2022. She also served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Colombia. In 2018, Ramírez became the first woman elected to serve as Vice President of Colombia, running on a ticket with Iván Duque. In 2021, after the resignation of her predecessor Claudia Blum, she was pronounced chancellor by the president Iván Duque.
Monsignor Isaías Duarte Cancino was a Colombian Catholic priest, who from 1995 until the day of his death was archbishop of the Archdiocese of Cali.
Presidential elections were held in Colombia on 25 May 2014. Since no candidate received 50% of the vote in the first round, a run-off between the two candidates with the most votes took place three weeks later on 15 June 2014. According to the official figures released by the National Registry office, as of 22 May 2014 32,975,158 Colombians were registered and entitled to vote in the 2014 presidential election, including 545,976 Colombians resident abroad. Incumbent president Juan Manuel Santos was allowed to run for a second consecutive term. In the first round, Santos and Óscar Iván Zuluaga of the Democratic Center were the two highest-polling candidates and were the contestants in the 15 June run-off. In the second round, Santos was re-elected president, gaining 51% of the vote compared with 45% for Zuluaga.
Francia Elena Márquez Mina is a Colombian human-rights and environmental activist and lawyer, who is the 13th and current Vice President of Colombia. She was born in Yolombó, a village in the Suarez municipality in Cauca Department. She first became an activist at 13, when construction of a dam threatened her community. On taking office, she became the first Afro-Colombian vice president in the country's history. She is also the second woman to hold the post, after Marta Lucía Ramírez. In August 2020, Márquez announced her candidacy in the 2022 Colombian presidential election and sought the nomination for the Historic Pact for Colombia coalition. She was later chosen by the coalition's nominee, Gustavo Petro, to be his running mate. In 2023 she was also appointed as Minister for Equality and Equity.
Presidential elections were held in Colombia on 29 May 2022, with a runoff on 19 June 2022 as no candidate obtained at least 50% in the first round of voting. Iván Duque, who was elected president in 2018, was ineligible to run due to term limits. Gustavo Petro, a senator, former Mayor of Bogota, and runner-up in the 2018 election, defeated Rodolfo Hernández Suárez, former mayor of Bucaramanga, in the runoff election. Petro's victory made him the first left-wing candidate to be elected president of Colombia, and his running mate, Francia Márquez, is the first Afro-Colombian elected to the vice-presidency, as well as the second female vice-president overall.
A series of protests began in Colombia on 28 April 2021 against increased taxes, corruption, and health care reform proposed by the government of President Iván Duque. The tax initiative was introduced to expand funding to Ingreso Solidario, a universal basic income social program established in April 2020 to provide relief during the COVID-19 pandemic in Colombia, while the legislative Bill 010 proposed several changes in the health care system in Colombia.
Rodolfo Hernández Suárez was a Colombian politician, civil engineer, and businessman who served as a senator of Colombia from July to October 2022. He was mayor of Bucaramanga from 2016 until his resignation in 2019. As the nominee for the League of Anti-Corruption Governors (LIGA) coalition, Hernández placed second in the first round of the 2022 Colombian presidential election, and he was ultimately defeated by Gustavo Petro in the second round run-off election. Hernández briefly served in a senate seat offered to the runner-up in a presidential election and took office on 20 July and resigned in October that same year.
The League of Anti-Corruption Governors is a Colombian political movement, created in October 2019 by the former mayor of Bucaramanga, Rodolfo Hernández Suárez, and by the candidates for the 2020–2023 municipal council. It was conceived as an independent civic alternative to traditional political parties and ideologies, with the purpose of reaching the presidency of the republic in the 2022 election. Earlier, in the 2015 local elections, Rodolfo Hernández managed to reach the Mayor's Office of Bucaramanga through an independent candidacy via the "Movimiento Cívico Lógica Etica y Estética", previously founded by Hernández to support his political campaign. In May 2022, Hernández finished in second place in the first round of the presidential elections, proceeding to the second round against Gustavo Petro. He finished in second place in the second round as well.
This page lists public opinion polls conducted for the 2022 Colombian presidential election, the first round of which was held on 29 May. Because no candidate won a majority, a second round was held on 19 June between the top two candidates, Gustavo Petro and Rodolfo Hernández Suárez.
Gustavo Petro assumed office as President of Colombia on August 7, 2022. The President has the power to nominate members of his Cabinet at his own discretion, in accordance with the Constitution of Colombia.
Soy Porque Somos is a Colombian left-wing political party of Afro-Colombian origin founded on 21 July 2021. It is one of the movements that make up the Historic Pact, a political coalition that led Gustavo Petro to the presidency. The Vice President of Colombia Francia Márquez is the founder and leader of the movement.
María José Pizarro Rodríguez is a Colombian artist, activist, and politician. She was a member of the country's Chamber of Representatives from 2018 to 2022, and has been a senator for the Historic Pact since July 2022.
Daniela Toloza Rocha is a Colombian beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Universe Colombia 2024, being the first delegate from Valle to ever be crowned Miss Universe Colombia. She will represent her country at Miss Universe 2024 pageant.
