In 2003 Sergio Fajardo was elected mayor of the city of Medellin Colombia. The day before the election, the polls gave him 20 per cent of the votes, yet, on the day the elections took place and the votes were counted, he had won by an overwhelming majority. After he took office in 2004, the city saw a process of transformation that would put it on the world map, both for its political impact and its urban and social transformations.