The killing of a senator could decide Colombia's election

CNN

3 days ago

The death of Miguel Uribe, two months after the attack against him, marks a return to the worst period of political violence in Colombia.
Weeks of limbo and hope for his recovery ended with the most unfortunate outcome: an assassination at a time when the country believed it had overcome the threat of death against presidential candidates, though the killing of social leaders has never been eradicated.
The assassination not only leaves a profound impact on society, which had shown unity in rejecting the attack, but could also determine the course of the upcoming presidential elections. Colombia has the highest record of such political crimes in Latin America. From the era of La Violencia in the mid-20th century to the wave of murders of leftist leaders and presidential candidates in the 1980s, Colombia has long experienced what has recently been seen in Ecuador and Haiti.
The senator and presidential pre-candidate was attacked on June 7 in Bogotá, in broad daylight, during a political rally. Since then, the security guarantees for him and other presidential pre-candidates have been questioned. The memories of the late 1980s and early 1990s have resurfaced.
Uribe, grandson of former president Julio César Turbay Ayala (1978-1982), experienced the violence of those years firsthand: his mother, journalist Diana Turbay, was kidnapped by Medellín Cartel drug traffickers under Pablo Escobar and killed in 1991 during a rescue operation. During that period, presidential hopefuls Jaime Pardo Leal, Luis Carlos Galán, Bernardo Jaramillo Ossa, Carlos Pizarro Leongómez, and Álvaro Gómez Hurtado were also killed.
Uribe was part of a generation of politicians who were children of those martyred figures, such as Bogotá Mayor Carlos Fernando Galán – son of Luis Carlos Galán – and Senator María José Pizarro, daughter of Carlos Pizarro Leongómez. His death forces Colombia to confront its history of violence.
'It is the great challenge we Colombians have: either fail as a society or close the chapter on the many forms of violence the country has experienced,' says political analyst Pedro Viveros. 'How is that chapter closed? By guaranteeing life to all Colombians, and the president must play a vital role in making that happen.'
President Gustavo Petro, who took several hours to respond to the news, said his government is focused on 'the protection and expansion of life' and rejected the persecution of the opposition. 'Vengeance is not the way for Colombia. Decades of violence have resulted from revenge. No more,' he said, insisting that the investigation proceed with international support and that everyone, 'regardless of ideology,' deserves protection and security.
Senator Uribe, a right-wing politician, was close to former president Álvaro Uribe Vélez and a strong critic of the current government, led by Petro, the first leftist president in Colombia's modern history. Uribe represented a young face of the opposition. Like several candidates in the 1990 election, Uribe died as an opponent, and his murder highlights cracks in the country's security and the lack of protection for leaders, which was one of his campaign promises.
Former President Uribe wrote on X that with Uribe's death 'they killed hope.' Senator Pizarro said, 'Only with truth and justice will political violence be eradicated, the violence that has ended the life of Miguel Uribe and so many political leaders who had much to contribute to this society.'
Unlike 30 years ago, when candidate assassinations were common, it is still unclear who ordered the attack on Uribe, though investigations point to FARC dissidents.
Uribe, who had been a candidate for mayor of Bogotá, a councilor, and Secretary of Government, had served as a senator since 2022 for the Democratic Center party. In October 2024, at the site where his mother was killed, he announced his presidential bid for the 2026 elections. At that time, he said her death shaped his life: 'I could have grown up seeking revenge, but I decided to do the right thing: forgive, but never forget.'
Although Uribe was not among the most visible contenders at the time of the attack, his name became prominent afterward. In a July poll by Guarumo-Econoanalítica, Uribe led the presidential voting intention.
At the time of the attack, the country was experiencing 'political stress,' as analyst Viveros describes, due to President Petro's 'radicalization of the discourse' with mentions of a National Constituent Assembly, a popular consultation, or an executive decree to approve his reforms.
After the attack, the Democratic Center unified anti-Petro voices around Uribe.
'The big dilemma the Democratic Center faces is that it does not have a viable candidate,' Viveros explains. 'The viable candidate was Miguel Uribe after the attack. Any future movement will depend on what the Democratic Center decides.'
'With this regrettable event, the decision over Colombia's political future, of the anti-Petro movement or the opposition, will revolve around what the Democratic Center defines,' says Viveros. 'The center of gravity for the future of the opposition is in the hands of that party.'
In 1989, after the death of Luis Carlos Galán, César Gaviria emerged as the official candidate with the support of Galán's son, Juan Manuel Galán.
Today, the voices of Uribe's wife, María Claudia Tarazona, and party leader Álvaro Uribe Vélez – currently under house arrest for a witness-tampering case – could influence the Democratic Center's decision. The party had planned a poll in October to select its 2026 candidate, but has not announced a decision since Uribe's death.
While it is still unknown who ordered Uribe's death and the country faces the start of an electoral campaign, his death will be a focal point in the debate, putting the Petro government's performance under scrutiny and returning Colombia to uncertainty and fear over persistent violence. In Colombia, opponents can still be killed – regardless of political affiliation – and both the state and society face the challenge of preventing it.
Today, after Uribe's death, overcoming that challenge seems more out of reach than ever.