Colombian president vows to hunt ‘mastermind' behind shooting of political rival, after 15-year-old arrested

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11 hours ago

A security guard checks on an employee in Bogota, Colombia, Sunday, June 8, 2025, upon her arrival to the clinic where Colombian Senator Miguel Uribe Turbay is being treated after an assassination attempt. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia)
Colombian senator Miguel Uribe, in the running to join next year's presidential race, is in a critical condition in hospital after being shot at an event in Bogota, allegedly by a 15-year old boy.
The 39-year-old, from the center-right Centro Democrático – or Democratic Center – the biggest opposition party in the South American nation, had expressed his intention to run in next year's election.
He was shot twice on Saturday afternoon in the capital's Fontibon district, according to the General Prosecutor's Office. Police said the 15-year-old was carrying a Glock pistol when he was arrested.
Video footage showed the senator giving a speech to a crowd before multiple loud bangs rang out. He was seen lying on the ground as people around him fled. Police and civilians later rushed him to an ambulance.
Uribe has entered 'the critical hours' of recovery after undergoing an initial surgical procedure, Bogota Mayor Carlos Fernando Galán said Sunday.
'He came out well from the surgery,' his wife told reporters in an audio recording after the operation, according to AFP. 'He fought the first battle and fought it well. He is fighting for his life.'
Uribe's party said he was shot in the back while he was participating in a campaign event.
In a broadcast statement Saturday evening, Colombian President Gustavo Petro condemned the attack and vowed to hunt down those responsible, suggesting other criminals may have been involved.
'No resource should be spared, not a single peso or a single moment of energy, to find the mastermind … Wherever they live, whether in Colombia or abroad,' said Petro.
The president pointed to a pattern of Colombian criminals taking advantage of minors and promised an independent investigation to determine the 'intellectual authors' of the attack - speculating there may be a link to 'crime bosses' responsible for several political assassinations in the country.
He expressed his hope that the opposition senator would survive and said politics should be 'free of violence.'
Uribe's wife, Maria Claudia Tarazona, posted a message on his X account asking for prayers for his recovery.
'Miguel is fighting for his life right now. Let us ask God to guide the hands of the doctors who are treating him,' she wrote.
Santa Fe de Bogota Foundation, the hospital where he is being treated, said he was undergoing 'neurosurgical and peripheral vascular procedures.'
'Uribe's condition is stable, still in critical condition,' Attorney General Luz Adriana Camargo told local TV network Caracol TV.
A political family
Uribe comes from a prominent Colombian political family. He is the grandson of Julio César Turbay Ayala, who governed the country from 1978 to 1982, and died in 2005.
The young politician's mother was Diana Turbay, a journalist kidnapped by drug traffickers from the Medellín cartel under Pablo Escobar, and murdered during a rescue operation in 1991. His grandmother, Nydia Quintero de Balcázar, is the founder of the organization Solidarity for Colombia.
The Harvard graduate entered the Senate in 2022, after a career in local Bogota politics.
He is identified with the right wing of Colombian politics, as the standard-bearer of the Democratic Center, championing security and foreign investment.
In October 2024, he announced his presidential bid from the location where his mother was killed, saying that her death shaped his life. 'I could have grown up seeking revenge, but I decided to do the right thing: forgive, but never forget,' he said.
With the presidential campaign still in its early stages, the Democratic Center has not yet chosen its official candidate.
International condemnation
The attack drew condemnation from the Colombian government and the Democratic Center, as well as former presidents and world leaders.
Before Petro's address, the president's office released a statement 'categorically and forcefully' condemning the attack.
'This act of violence is an attack not only against the senator's personal integrity, but also against democracy, freedom of thought, and the legitimate exercise of politics in Colombia,' the Presidency said.
Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez Suárez also announced a 3 billion pesos (US$730,000) reward for information that helps authorities track down those responsible for the attack.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington condemned the attack 'in the strongest possible terms,' calling it 'a direct threat to democracy.' He attributed it to 'the violent leftist rhetoric coming from the highest levels of the Colombian government' and urged the Colombian officials to dial back 'the inflammatory rhetoric.'
President Petro later said he rejected 'opportunistic' attempts to use the attack for 'political purposes.'
Uribe's Democratic Center party called the shooting 'an unacceptable act of violence.'
'We strongly reject this attack, which not only endangers the life of a political leader but also threatens democracy and freedom in Colombia,' it said in a statement.
At least four former presidents – Ernesto Samper, Álvaro Uribe Vélez, Juan Manuel Santos and Iván Duque – issued condemnations. Centro Democratico is the party of both Uribe and Duque.
Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa sent his prayers to Uribe's family, adding that 'we condemn all forms of violence and intolerance.'
In the late 1980s and early '90s, when Uribe's mother was assassinated, Colombia experienced one of its worst periods of political violence, with the murders of several presidential candidates.
Uribe is a prominent member of a new generation of politicians descended from victims of that violence, along with current Bogota Mayor Carlos Fernando Galán, son of former Liberal leader Luis Carlos Galán, who was assassinated in 1989.
One of Uribe's greatest rivals in the Senate, María José Pizarro, is the daughter of Carlos Pizarro Leongómez, assassinated in 1990 while running for president of the leftist M-19.
CNN's Billy Stockwell and Sofia Barruti contributed to this report.
Mauricio Torres, Fernando Ramos, Chris Lau and Sebastian Jimenez, CNN