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Toronto Sun
18 hours ago
- Politics
- Toronto Sun
Colombia presidential candidate Miguel Uribe Turbay fighting for life after assassination bid
Published Jun 08, 2025 • 3 minute read Miguel Uribe Turbay, centre in blue tie, a Colombian senator and presidential candidate for the right-wing Centro Democratico party, celebrates after voting against a labor reform referendum proposed by the government, in Bogota, Colombia, May 14, 2025. Photo by Fernando Vergara, File / AP Photo Colombian presidential candidate Miguel Uribe Turbay remains in a critical condition after an assassination attempt on Saturday that recalled the political violence that roiled the nation in the 1980s and 1990s. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account The 39-year-old opposition senator is out of a 'neurosurgical' operation and a procedure on his left thigh, but his condition remains extremely serious, according to a statement from La Fundacion Santa Fe de Bogota, where he is being treated. It declined to give a prognosis. Uribe's wife had said the 39-year-old opposition senator is 'fighting for his life' following the attack, which happened while he was campaigning in a Bogota neighbourhood on Saturday. A 15-year-old youth was arrested in relation to the shooting after being beaten up by a crowd, according to Attorney General Luz Camargo. The minor is currently receiving treatment in a medical centre, she said. Authorities recovered a 9mm Glock at the scene. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Uribe was was hit twice in the head, according to the Attorney General's office. In a national address, President Gustavo Petro said that investigators are trying to establish who ordered the teenage gunman to attempt the hit, and don't yet know the motive. The candidate had visited businesses in the Modelia neighbourhood, then was speaking to about 250 people when the gunfire broke out, according to local councilor Andrés Barrios, who was with Uribe at the time of the shooting. A person from his security team threw himself on top of Uribe, Barrios said in an interview with W Radio. The senator was put into a car, then transferred to a passing ambulance, Barrios said. The attack comes as illegal armed groups gain strength and taking more territory, emboldened by the failure of Petro's peace plan. The gunning down of a prominent candidate — a resurgence of a type of violence that had become much less common over the last three decades — could further shake investors' waning confidence in the Andean nation. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. At the peak of Colombia's drug cartel terror in the 1980s and early 1990s, four presidential candidates were assassinated, among other prominent Colombians. Uribe's own mother, the journalist Diana Turbay, was murdered by Pablo Escobar's Medellin cartel in 1991. Backsliding into Terror Uribe, a member of the Democratic Center party, has called for a tough line against the illegal armed groups that control cocaine production, and has repeatedly warned that Colombia is backsliding into terror. Just two days before he was shot, he said in a speech in Cartagena that the country is being 'dragged back to a past of violence.' Uribe has attacked Petro's policy of seeking 'total peace' through negotiations with guerrillas and the private armies of drug traffickers. The talks have so far failed to yield major demobilizations, while the groups have taken advantage of the relative lack of military pressure to expand. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. On Saturday evening, crowds gathered outside Fundacion Santa Fe, the hospital where Uribe is being treated. Some of those present chanted anti-government slogans. Petro's government condemned the shooting, and pledged to step up protection of candidates ahead of the 2026 presidential and congressional elections. In a statement, U.S. State Secretary Marco Rubio said the attempt was 'a direct threat to democracy and the result of the violent leftist rhetoric coming from the highest levels of the Colombian government.' The grandson of former President Julio Cesar Turbay, Uribe was educated at Colombia's Universidad de los Andes and Harvard's Kennedy School. He has also campaigned for a pro-business agenda, and opposes Petro's attempts to increase the role of the state in the economy. His mentor, former President Alvaro Uribe, to whom he is not related, defined him as a 'hope for the motherland', and said he was praying for his recovery. In 2023, a presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio was gunned down in neighbouring Ecuador, where drug gangs have gained strength in recent years. Sports Sunshine Girls Canada Sunshine Girls Columnists
CTV News
20 hours ago
- Politics
- CTV News
Colombian president vows to hunt ‘mastermind' behind shooting of political rival, after 15-year-old arrested
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
Khaleej Times
a day ago
- Politics
- Khaleej Times
Colombian President vows to find mastermind after Senator Miguel Uribe shot by teen at campaign event
Colombian senator and presidential hopeful Miguel Uribe is in critical condition after being shot at a campaign event in Bogota, allegedly by a 15-year-old boy, according to CNN. The 39-year-old opposition leader from the center-right Centro Democratico party was addressing a crowd in the capital's Fontibon district on Saturday afternoon when gunshots rang out. He was shot twice and rushed to hospital. Police said the suspect, a minor, was found carrying a Glock pistol when arrested, CNN reported. Video footage showed Uribe collapsing mid-speech as the crowd dispersed in panic. His party confirmed he was shot in the back during the event. Colombian President Gustavo Petro condemned the attack and vowed to pursue those responsible, suggesting the involvement of organised criminals. "No resource should be spared, not a single peso or a single moment of energy, to find the mastermind ... whether in Colombia or abroad," Petro said. The president linked the attack to a broader pattern of minors being used by crime syndicates. He called for an independent probe to determine the "intellectual authors" behind the shooting and emphasised that politics must remain "free of violence." Uribe's wife, Maria Claudia Tarazona, shared a message on his social media account: "Miguel is fighting for his life right now. Let us ask God to guide the hands of the doctors who are treating him." Santa Fe de Bogota Foundation hospital stated that the senator underwent neurosurgical and vascular procedures. Attorney General Luz Adriana Camargo later confirmed that Uribe's condition remained stable but critical. Uribe belongs to a prominent political family. His grandfather, Julio Cesar Turbay Ayala, served as Colombia's president from 1978 to 1982. His mother, journalist Diana Turbay, was kidnapped and killed by Pablo Escobar's Medellin cartel in 1991. Uribe, a Harvard graduate, entered the Senate in 2022 after serving in Bogota's local government. In October 2024, he launched his presidential bid from the location where his mother was murdered, stating, "I could have grown up seeking revenge, but I decided to do the right thing: forgive, but never forget," CNN noted. The shooting has drawn widespread condemnation from both national and international leaders. The Democratic Center party called it "an unacceptable act of violence" that threatens democracy. President Petro's office called the attack a blow to "freedom of thought and legitimate political participation." Colombia's Defence Ministry has offered a reward of 3 billion pesos (USD 730,000) for information on those responsible. Four former Colombian presidents — Ernesto Samper, Alvaro Uribe Velez, Juan Manuel Santos, and Ivan Duque — also condemned the attack. Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa expressed solidarity with Uribe's family and denounced political violence. Uribe is part of a generation of Colombian leaders shaped by political assassinations in the late 1980s and 1990s. His Senate rival Maria Jose Pizarro is the daughter of former presidential candidate Carlos Pizarro Leongomez, who was killed in 1990.
Times of Oman
a day ago
- Politics
- Times of Oman
Miguel Uribe, who was to run for Colombian Presidential race, shot thrice
Bogota: Colombian Senator Miguel Uribe, in the running to join next year's presidential race, was shot at an event in Bogota, according to national police, CNN reported. The 39-year-old, from the conservative Centro Democratico - or Democratic Center - one of the biggest opposition parties in the South American nation, had expressed his intention to run in next year's election, as per CNN. "Armed individuals shot him in the back while he was participating in a campaign event at around 5:00 pm," the party said in a statement. Bogota Mayor Carlos Galan said Uribe was receiving emergency care after being attacked in the capital's Fontibon district, and the suspected attacker had been arrested. The attack drew condemnation from the Colombian government and Centro Democratico, as well as former presidents and other regional leaders. Colombian President Gustavo Petro expressed his solidarity with the senator's family in a post on X, saying: "I don't know how to ease your pain. It is the pain of a mother lost, and of a wounded homeland." The Colombian foreign ministry called the attack "a direct affront to democracy, respect for differences, and the free exercise of politics in our country." It called on the authorities to "to fully clarify this serious incident." Centro Democratico 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, as per CNN. At least four former presidents - Ernesto Samper, Alvaro Uribe, Juan Manuel Santos and Ivan Duque - issued condemnations. Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa sent his prayers to Uribe's family, adding that "we condemn all forms of violence and intolerance." The UN Human Rights office in Bogota urged the authorities to investigate and bring those responsible to justice.
Saudi Gazette
a day ago
- Politics
- Saudi Gazette
Colombia presidential hopeful shot in head at rally
BOGOTA — A Colombian presidential candidate is in a critical condition after he was shot three times — reportedly twice in the head — at a campaign event in the capital, Bogotá. Miguel Uribe Turbay, a 39-year-old senator, was attacked while addressing supporters in a park on Saturday. Police arrested a 15-year-old suspect at the scene, the attorney general's office said. Uribe's wife, Maria Claudia Tarazona, called on the nation to pray for his survival. "Miguel is currently fighting for his life. Let us ask God to guide the hands of the doctors who are treating him," she said. Uribe's Centro Democratico party condemned the attack, calling it a threat to "democracy and freedom in Colombia". Phone footage shared online appears to show the moment when he was shot in the head mid-speech, prompting those gathered to flee in panic. Paramedics said he had been shot in the knee and twice in the head, AFP news agency reported. He was airlifted to a hospital where supporters gathered to hold underwent surgery and was in the first critical hours of recovery, Bogotá Mayor Carlos Fernando Galán said late on Saturday 15-year-old suspect was shot in the leg while police and security officers pursued him after the attack, according to local was arrested carrying a "9mm Glock-type firearm", a statement from the attorney general's office said. An investigation is under government of left-wing President Gustavo Petro said it "categorically" condemned the attack as an "act of violence not only against his person, but also against democracy".Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez condemned the "vile attack" and offered a 3bn peso ($730,000; £540,000) reward for information about who may be behind Secretary of State Marco Rubio also condemned the shooting as a "direct threat to democracy".He blamed the attack, without providing examples, on "violent leftist rhetoric coming from the highest levels of the Colombian government". The suspect's motivation is still later urged Colombians to wish Uribe well, on what he described as a "day of pain", in a video address to the is a "political difference" between Uribe and the government, but it is "only political", he said."What matters most today is that all Colombians focus with the energy of our hearts, with our will to live... on ensuring that Dr Miguel Uribe stays alive," he a right-wing critic of Petro, announced his candidacy for next year's presidential election in October. He has been a senator since is from a prominent political family in Colombia, with links to the country's Liberal Party. His father was a union leader and mother was Diana Turbay, a journalist who was killed in 1991 in a rescue attempt after she had been kidnapped by the Medellin drugs cartel run at the time by Pablo Escobar. — BBC
