On August 2005 he had to go into exile with his wife, journalist and anchorwoman María Cristina Uribe (who at the time presented Noticias Uno), and their daughter.
Coronell and his family decided to come back to Colombia in July 2007, where a few months later, as a result of his columns and TV reports critical of President Uribe's government, he had an improvised argument with the latter on-the air, through La FM, a national radio network.