Political tensions erupt in Colombia after assassination attempt on opposition leader
At dusk, dozens of supporters continued to pray for his speedy recovery outside the Santa Fe Clinic in northern Bogotá. "Out with Petro!" some protesters occasionally chanted. The right accused left-wing President Gustavo Petro of inciting hatred in the country and leading Colombia to disaster, arguing he was indirectly responsible for the attack.
Turbay remained in intensive care on Sunday evening after undergoing an initial surgery. His condition was still described as "very critical," according to a statement from the clinic's medical team. "Miguel is still fighting hard for his life, and I ask each of you to continue to pray fervently," said his wife, Maria Claudia Tarazona.
The assassination attempt comes one year before the May 2026 presidential election, which has already gripped attention and heightened tensions among political leaders. Turbay is seeking the nomination of his party, the far-right Democratic Centre (CD), founded by former President Alvaro Uribe (2002-2010). The two men are not related.
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France 24
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- France 24
Colombian presidential hopeful Miguel Uribe dies 2 months after being shot during a rally
A Colombian senator and presidential hopeful whose shooting at a political rally in June recalled some of the darkest chapters of the country's drug-fueled violence died Monday. The family of Miguel Uribe Turbay said the politician died at a hospital in the capital, Bogota. Uribe, 39, was shot three times, twice in the head, while giving a campaign speech in a park and had since remained in an intensive care unit in serious condition with episodes of slight improvement. Details by Patricio Peralta, FRANCE 24 Espanol journalist in Bogota.
France 24
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- France 24
Colombia presidential hopeful dies after June rally shooting
The 39-year-old conservative senator, a grandson of former president Julio Cesar Turbay (1978-1982), was shot in the head and leg on June 7 at a rally in the capital Bogota. Despite signs of progress in recent weeks, his doctors on Saturday announced he had suffered a new brain hemorrhage. "Rest in peace, love of my life," his wife Maria Claudia Tarazona wrote Monday morning in a post on Instagram. "Thank you for a life full of love." Authorities have arrested six suspects linked to the attack, including the alleged shooter, a 15-year-old boy captured at the scene by Uribe's bodyguards. Following a nationwide manhunt, police announced the arrest of an alleged mastermind behind the attack, Elder Jose Arteaga Hernandez, alias "El Costeno." Police have also pointed to a dissident group of the defunct FARC guerrilla group as being behind the assassination. The attack on Uribe, a leading candidate ahead of the 2026 presidential election, has reopened old wounds in a country wracked by violence. His own mother, journalist Diana Turbay, was killed in a botched 1991 police operation to free her from cocaine kingpin Pablo Escobar's Medellin cartel. Four presidential candidates were assassinated during the worst phase of violence in the 1980s and 1990s under Escobar, who terrorized citizens of Bogota, Medellin and elsewhere with a campaign of bombings. 'Evil destroys everything' "Today is a sad day for the country," Colombian Vice President Francia Marquez said on social media. "Violence cannot continue to mark our destiny. Democracy is not built with bullets or blood, it is built with respect, with dialogue." Uribe has been a strong critic of Colombia's first left-wing president, Gustavo Petro, who has sought in vain to make peace with the country's various remaining armed groups. He announced in October that he would seek to succeed the term-limited Petro in the May 2026 presidential election. Uribe was elected to Bogota's city council at age 26, later becoming its youngest-ever chairperson and then the mayor's right-hand man. In 2019, he unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Bogota, but three years later, he was elected a senator -- receiving the most votes of any candidate in the country. He took a seat with the conservative Democratic Center party, founded by former president Alvaro Uribe, no relation. "Evil destroys everything, they killed hope. May Miguel's struggle be a light that illuminates Colombia's rightful path," former president Uribe wrote on X. In recent months, Petro, a former left-wing guerrilla, has been accused of dialing up the political temperature by labelling his right-wing opponents "Nazis." US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a frequent critic of the leftist Petro government, demanded justice following the announcement of Uribe's death. "The United States stands in solidarity with his family, the Colombian people, both in mourning and demanding justice for those responsible," Rubio said. Uribe leaves behind a young son and three teenage daughters of his wife, whom he had taken in as his own.
LeMonde
11-08-2025
- LeMonde
Colombia presidential hopeful dies after being shot in June at campaign event
Colombian presidential candidate Miguel Uribe has died two months after being shot in the head at a campaign event, his wife announced early Monday morning, August 11. "You will always be the love of my life. Thank you for a life full of love," Maria Claudia Tarazona wrote on her Instagram account. "Rest in peace, love of my life. I will take care of our children," she added. On June 7, during a rally in a working-class neighborhood of the capital Bogota, the 39-year-old conservative candidate was shot three times, twice in the head. Authorities have arrested six suspects linked to the attack, including a 15 year old alleged to have carried out the shooting, and point to a dissident group of the defunct FARC guerrilla group as possible masterminds. By mid-July, Uribe was showing signs of improvement and had entered neurorehabilitation after several surgeries. But the legislator's condition returned to critical after he suffered a new brain hemorrhage related to the assassination attempt, the clinic treating him said Saturday. Uribe leaves behind a young son and three teenage daughters of his wife, whom he had taken in as his own. "Today is a sad day for the country," Colombian Vice President Francia Marquez said Monday in a message on social media network X. "Violence cannot continue to mark our destiny. Democracy is not built with bullets or blood, it is built with respect, with dialogue," she added. A member of the Democratic Center party of former right-wing president Alvaro Uribe, to whom he is not related, he announced in October his intention to run in the May 2026 presidential election to succeed left-wing President Gustavo Petro. The attack revived fears of a return to the violence of the 1980s and 1990s in Colombia, when political murders and attacks were commonplace. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a frequent critic of the leftist Petro government, demanded justice on Monday following the announcement of Uribe's death. "The United States stands in solidarity with his family, the Colombian people, both in mourning and demanding justice for those responsible," Rubio wrote on X.
