Colombian presidential hopeful Uribe dies two months after shooting
The capital's Santa Fe Foundation hospital — where supporters held regular vigils during Uribe's treatment and repeated operations — said over the weekend his condition had worsened because of a hemorrhage in his central nervous system. On Monday, it said he had died at 1:56 am.
Former President Alvaro Uribe, the leader of the senator's Democratic Centre party and no relation to the deceased lawmaker, wrote on X that "evil destroys everything; they killed hope". "May Miguel's fight be a light that illuminates Colombia's right path", added the former president, who was sentenced by a judge earlier this month to 12 years of house arrest for abuse of process and bribery of a public official.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote on X he was deeply saddened by the news. "The United States stands in solidarity with his family, the Colombian people, both in mourning and demanding justice for those responsible".
Six people are under arrest over the shooting, including two men that the attorney general's office says met in Medellin to plan the assassination. A 15-year-old accused of carrying out the shooting was arrested within hours of the crime, but police have said they are pursuing the "intellectual authors" of the attack. In a video of the boy's June arrest, independently verified by Reuters, he can be heard shouting that he had been hired by a local drug dealer.
Defence Minister Pedro Sanchez vowed on Monday to catch those responsible. "We will not allow the violent to intimidate or silence political voices needed in our democracy", he wrote on X. His ministry has said there is a 3 billion peso (about $740,000) reward for information leading to the identification and capture of the culprits and that the United States, Britain and the United Arab Emirates are helping with the investigation.
The death of Senator Uribe, a father and stepfather, adds further tragedy to his family's fraught history. His mother, journalist Diana Turbay, was killed in 1991 during a botched rescue mission after she was kidnapped by the Medellin Cartel, headed by drug lord Pablo Escobar. Uribe himself enjoyed a rapid political rise, as a lawmaker for the right-wing Democratic Centre party and presidential hopeful known for his sharp criticism of leftist President Gustavo Petro's administration. — Reuters
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