Alejandro Éder

Álvaro Alejandro Eder Garcés (born 1 December 1975) is a Colombian politician and specialist in international security policies. He was elected Mayor of Cali in October 2023 and assumed office on 1 January 2024. From 2010 to 2014 he served as Senior Presidential Advisor for Reintegration.

He is part of the fifth generation of the Eder family in Colombia as a descendant of James Martin Eder as well as Henry James Eder, a former Mayor of Cali. Many Dignidad y Compromiso voters and Centro Democrático leaders also supported him. He is a strong critic of President Gustavo Petro. In 2024 he appointed activist Johana Caicedo Sinisterra as Secretary of Peace.

Biography

Early Years and Family He was born on 1 December 1975 in the city of Washington D. C. (United States), and is the son of Henry Eder, who was mayor of Cali for the period 1986-1988, and the grandson of Harold Eder, founder of Ingenios Manuelita S.A. and the first kidnap victim of the FARC-EP in 1965, who died when his captors deprived him of medical attention. The M-19 attempted to kidnap his mother and later kidnapped an aunt.

He completed his secondary education at the Colegio Bolívar in Cali. He studied Philosophy and International Relations at Hamilton College, and specialised in the Politics of International Security and Conflict Resolution, obtaining a Master's degree in International Relations from Columbia University.

On August 15 2015 he married the model and actress Taliana Vargas. The wedding took place in Palmira in the Valle del Cauca Department, at the Ingenio Manuelita, and the couple have two children