In June 2022, following Gustavo Petro's election as President of Colombia, a vocal group of protesters in Medellín, the capital of Antioquia, took to the streets to reject the election results.[1] Antioquia, known for its conservative leanings and strong support for former President Álvaro Uribe, witnessed significant unrest among residents who opposed Petro, a progressive candidate.[2] [3]
Organized by conservative groups aligned with Uribismo,[4] the protest in Medellín became a platform for expressing dissatisfaction with the national election outcome.[5] The demonstrators, dressed in the colors of the Antioquia flag and marched through the city's streets, chanting slogans like "Antioquia deserves to be sovereign."[6] The protest's leader rallied the crowd by denouncing centralism and asserting that Bogotá should not have control over Antioquia's destiny.[2] [7] [3] This call for Antioquia's independence was not an isolated incident; it echoed a similar movement from 1992 when an advertising campaign in major Colombian newspapers advocated for the region's independence.[8]