Initial ballot results gave victory to his contender Ventura Díaz Mejía, but after a lengthy and often criticized process, the Administrative Supreme Court of Colombia reviewed the election results and found Char to be rightful winner of the race and allowed him to serve the remaining period of his term in 2003.

[5] In 2015 he was reelected for Mayor of Barranquilla defeating his opponent, ex councilor and independent politician Rafael Sanchez Anillo.

[9] He married Katia Nule Marino on August 27, 1999, of Lebanese descent and a former winner of the Miss Carnival of Barranquilla pageant in 1995.

She is the daughter of former Ministry of Mines and Energy and Minister of Communications Guido Alberto Nule Amín, and of Ginger Marino Mendoza, a lawyer and activist.

He said “we studied it, analyzed it, and gave the go-ahead, because after the Central American and Caribbean Games the city was hungry for sports.