Colombian presidential hopeful shot in head is fighting for life, family says

Independent

5 hours ago

Colombian senator Miguel Uribe is in critical condition after being shot at a campaign event in Bogota on Saturday, according to his wife, government officials, and party authorities.
The 39-year-old senator, a member of the opposition conservative Democratic Center party, was attacked during a 2026 presidential campaign event in a public park in the Fontibon neighborhood, the party said in a statement.
The statement condemned the attack, saying "armed subjects shot him from behind," but did not disclose further details on Uribe's condition.
Videos circulating on social media showed a man identified as Uribe receiving treatment after the shooting, with visible head wounds. His wife, Maria Claudia Tarazona, posted on X that he was "fighting for his life."
The Colombian Attorney General's Office reported the arrest of "a minor under 15 years of age" who was carrying a 9mm Glock pistol. President Gustavo Petro has ordered an investigation into who ordered the attack.
Supporters gathered outside the Santa Fe Foundation hospital, holding candlelight vigils, praying, and waving Colombian flags.
Colombia's Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez said a suspect had been arrested in the shooting and that authorities were investigating whether others were involved. Sanchez said he had visited the hospital where Uribe was being treated.
Investigation is underway
The government is offering some $730,000 as a reward for information in the case.
Colombia's presidency issued a statement saying the government "categorically and forcefully" rejected the violent attack, and called for a thorough investigation into the events.
Leftist President Gustavo Petro sympathized with the senator's family in a message on X, saying: "I don't know how to ease your pain. It is the pain of a mother lost, and of a homeland."
Petro later said in a speech on Saturday night that the person arrested was a minor and that the investigation would focus on finding who had ordered the attack.
"For now there is nothing more than hypothesis," Petro said, adding that failures in security protocols would also be looked into.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement that the U.S. "condemns in the strongest possible terms the attempted assassination" of Uribe, blaming Petro's "inflammatory rhetoric" for the violence.
Uribe, who is not yet an official presidential candidate for his party, is from a prominent family in Colombia. His father was a businessman and union leader. His mother, journalist Diana Turbay, was kidnapped in 1990 by an armed group under the command of the late cartel leader Pablo Escobar. She was killed during a rescue operation in 1991.
Colombia has for decades been embroiled in a conflict between leftist rebels, criminal groups descended from right-wing paramilitaries, and the government.