Miguel Uribe shot in Bogota, critical condition after campaign attack
A prominent Colombian right-wing presidential candidate is in critical condition after being shot three times during a campaign event in Bogota on Saturday, authorities said.
Thirty-nine-year-old Senator Miguel Uribe was speaking to supporters in the capital when a gunman shot him twice in the head and once in the knee
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RNZ News
17 hours ago
- RNZ News
Colombian presidential candidate's condition 'grave' after assassination attempt
By Alba Santana , AFP Miguel Uribe. Photo: AFP/SEBASTIAN BARROS A prominent Colombian presidential candidate was in "grave" condition and "fighting for his life" in hospital Sunday, after an alleged teen gunman shot him twice in the head at a Bogota campaign rally. Thirty-nine-year-old right-wing Senator Miguel Uribe underwent successful initial surgery to contain injuries from Saturday's attack, but doctors warned his life was still in serious peril. He remains in "the most grave condition and the prognosis is reserved" said medics at the capital's Santa Fe Clinic. Uribe's shooting has utterly shocked a nation that had believed decades of bloody political and narco violence were largely in the past. Hundreds took to the streets in major cities on Sunday to light candles, pray and voice their anger at the attack. "Our hearts are broken, Colombia hurts," Carolina Gomez, a 41-year-old businesswoman, told AFP as she lit candles and prayed outside the hospital where Uribe was being treated. The crowd joined together in cries of "strength to you Miguel" and "the people are with you." Uribe's wife Maria Claudia Tarazona thanked Colombians for their support and asked that they collectively pray for his survival. "He is fighting hard for his life," she said. The senator received two gunshot wounds to the head and was also shot once in the leg. Although a security guard at the scene captured the alleged gunman, the motive for the shooting is still not publicly known. Uribe had been a fierce critic of Colombia's leftist government, of guerrilla groups that still control chunks of the country and of ultra-powerful drug cartels. The government has vowed to use every police, military and intelligence resource to uncover the motive and find those who hired the alleged would-be assassin. Police said there had been no specific threats against Uribe's life, but like other public figures he had close personal protection. The young Senator's family history traces the tragedies of modern Colombia, making the attack all the more poignant for many. He is the grandson of a former president Julio Cesar Turbay whose 1978-1982 term was marked by guerrilla insurgencies and the emergence of the Medellin and Cali drug cartels. Pablo Escobar. Photo: supplied But Uribe is best known as the son of Diana Turbay, a famed Colombian journalist who was killed after being kidnapped by Pablo Escobar and whose death rocked the nation. A team of about 100 investigators are now working to determine the motive for the attack, Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez said Sunday. Earlier he had offered a roughly US$725,000 (NZ$1.2m) reward for information about who was behind the shooting. The suspect, believed to be about 15 years old, was injured in the affray and was receiving treatment, said police director Carlos Fernando Triana. Two others - a man and a woman - were also wounded, and a Glock-style firearm was seized. The attack has been condemned by politicians across the political spectrum. Leftist President Gustavo Petro condemned the violence as "an attack not only against his person, but also against democracy, freedom of thought, and the legitimate exercise of politics in Colombia". The shooting was similarly condemned from overseas, with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio calling it "a direct threat to democracy". But Rubio also pointed blame at Petro, claiming the attack was the "result of the violent leftist rhetoric coming from the highest levels of the Colombian government". "President Petro needs to dial back the inflammatory rhetoric and protect Colombian officials," the top US diplomat said. - AFP
NZ Herald
21 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Miguel Uribe shot in Bogota, critical condition after campaign attack
A prominent Colombian right-wing presidential candidate is in critical condition after being shot three times during a campaign event in Bogota on Saturday, authorities said. Thirty-nine-year-old Senator Miguel Uribe was speaking to supporters in the capital when a gunman shot him twice in the head and once in the knee
RNZ News
a day ago
- RNZ News
Colombian senator Uribe 'fighting for life' after shooting, 15-year-old suspect arrested
Colombian politician Miguel Uribe Turbay. Photo: AFP/SEBASTIAN BARROS Colombian Senator Miguel Uribe, a potential presidential contender, is fighting for his life in hospital after being shot during a campaign event in Bogota, according to his wife and government and party authorities. The Colombian Attorney General's Office said in a statement that "a minor under 15 years of age was arrested carrying a Glock pistol-type firearm (9mm)", and President Gustavo Petro ordered an investigation into who had ordered Saturday's (local time) attack. The 39-year-old senator, a member of the opposition conservative Democratic Center party, was shot during a 2026 presidential campaign event in a public park in the Fontibon neighbourhood in the capital on Saturday, according to a party statement condemning the attack. The party said in a statement "armed subjects shot him from behind" and described the attack as serious, but did not disclose further details on Uribe's condition. Videos on social media showed a man, identified as Uribe, being tended to after the shooting. He appeared to be bleeding from his head. Uribe's wife Maria Claudia Tarazona wrote on her husband's account on X that he was "fighting for his life". People gathered outside the Santa Fe Foundation hospital where Uribe was being treated, some staged candlelight vigils and prayed, while others carried 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. The government is offering some US$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. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement that the US "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. - Reuters
