A Cuban Who Wants to Be Mayor of Cali

September 10, 2022

Cali is the capital of the department of Valle del Cauca and the third most important city in Colombia, and has as its Security Secretary a Cuban who has been in the city for around 20 years, who from a very young age has identified with the culture of Cali to the point of becoming a Colombian citizen by adoption since 2015.

This Tuesday his image became the center of a controversy when some advertising billboards promoted his campaign as mayor of Cali for 2023, on the pedestrian bridges of some points in the city of Valle del Cauca the image of the Cuban and a phrase "Because Cali asks for it, Dranguet Mayor" could be seen on the banners that caught the attention of more than one person from Cali.

The political advertising did not go unnoticed by passersby, who immediately posted photographs and videos of the Security Secretary through social media.

The Security Secretary himself posted on Twitter the following: "In the early hours, at different points in Cali, banners with my name were installed, regardless of intention, this type of advertising is illegal and it is essential to take care of the spaces in our city," wrote the Security Secretary of Cali.

It is worth noting that the current Security Secretary took his position following the resignation of Carlos Soler Parra, who was involved in the controversy over contracts with former military personnel questioned by the justice system, and other scandals. Soler allegedly made contracts granted to ex-military officers, a discovery uncovered at the beginning of May when it became known of one granted to the former commander of the National Army, general (r) Leonardo Barrero Gordillo.

Barrero received from the Security and Justice Secretariat of the Cali Mayor's Office 11 million pesos per month for advising this office of the district administration on crime prevention matters.

Faced with this controversy, Soler resigned and the deputy secretary Jimmy Dranguet took his place. This new decision by Mayor Jorge Iván Ospina did not sit well with public opinion and even less so with the clearest opposition parties in Cali. For example, senator María Fernanda Cabal thought it was a mistake when she learned of the decision.

"A Cuban indoctrinated in communism, is the new security secretary of Cali. Jimmy Dranguet, Ospina's piece to manage the security of the people of Cali. How far we have fallen!" the senator from the Democratic Center posted on Twitter.

In response, the current Security Secretary of Cali said "Trained in Colombia, Senator. Here I completed high school, my undergraduate degree at the University of San Buenaventura and my postgraduate degree at the Externado University of Colombia. Be careful with xenophobia! In 2 and a half years of service I have learned about Cali's problems and we will be up to the task."

Jimmy Dranguet has been Colombian since 2015, was born in Havana, Cuba and arrived in 1998 with his father who is a doctor, his mother and his younger brother.

Dranguet finished his high school education in Cali and became a lawyer, specializing in Medical Law. He has provided his services to different state entities; he has worked in the Congress of the Republic and is a trial lawyer and no longer has a Cuban accent. According to what he told the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he says that "Cali is his city and he cannot see himself living anywhere else."

It appears that with these new banners on the pedestrian bridges it is an announcement of his candidacy for next 2023 as Mayor.

He has been there for barely three months and it is very little time to show the caliber of other candidates with better options. Furthermore, he would have to resign from his position in order to launch himself as a possibility for the people of Cali. Just as Danis Rentería did, secretary of Peace and Civic Culture of Cali; Catalina Ortiz who left the Chamber of Representatives and the Green Party and Diana Rojas, former liberal councilwoman.

For now, the strongest option is the son of the president of Congress, Roy Alejandro Barreras who is the Director of the Administrative Department of District Planning of the Cali Mayor's Office, and in the administration of Dilian Francisca Toro as governor of Valle del Cauca, he was Director of Departmental Planning.