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GMA Network
2 hours ago
- Politics
- GMA Network
Colombian senator Uribe shows little response to treatment after shooting
Colombian presidential hopeful Senator Miguel Uribe looks on after the Senate voted against the government labor reform referendum promoted by Colombia's President Gustavo Petro in Bogota on May 14, 2025. Raul Arboleda/ AFP BOGOTA — Colombian Senator Miguel Uribe, a potential presidential contender, remains in critical condition and has shown little response to treatment after being shot in Bogota, the hospital treating him said on Monday. Uribe, 39, is a member of the opposition right-wing Democratic Center party and was shot in the head as he was addressing a campaign event on Saturday in a public park in the capital. The shooting, which was caught on video, has shaken Colombia, evoking the political violence of previous decades. "His condition is extremely serious," the Santa Fe Foundation hospital said in a statement. "Therefore the prognosis remains cautious." Colombia has long been embroiled in conflict with leftist rebels and criminal groups descended from right-wing paramilitaries, though the motive for the attack on Uribe remains unclear. Leftist President Gustavo Petro has vowed to bring peace, negotiating with rebel groups to get them to put down their arms, but with little success. Uribe comes from a prominent political family. His grandfather Julio Cesar Turbay was president from 1978 to 1982 and his mother, journalist Diana Turbay, was killed in 1991 during a rescue operation after being kidnapped by an armed group led by drug lord Pablo Escobar. He is not related to former president Alvaro Uribe. Petro said on Sunday he had ordered additional security for government officials and opposition members in response to more threats, though the details of the threats were murky. Ex-President Uribe, who founded the Democratic Center party, also said he had been informed of plans to attack him. It is not known why Senator Uribe, who was vying for the candidacy of his party, was attacked. He was polling well behind other party candidates at the time of the shooting. A young teen found to be carrying a 9-mm pistol was arrested after the shooting. The gun was purchased in Arizona, the head of police said, and authorities are investigating how it reached Colombia. Authorities had yet to interrogate the boy as he was receiving medical care, Attorney General Luz Adriana Camargo said on Monday. However, she said that if the teen were a gun-for-hire, he would likely have little information about the motive. "There are several hypotheses," Camargo said. "It could have been an attack on the opposition, or it could have been an attempt to destabilize the country, or the government, or it was armed illegal groups responding to the progress made in the peace process." The suspect faces charges of attempted murder and illegal possession of a weapon, she added. But as he is a minor, he faces up to eight years in a rehabilitation center instead of prison. — Reuters
Al Etihad
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Al Etihad
Colombian senator Uribe shows little response to treatment after shooting
9 June 2025 19:11 BOGOTA (REUTERS)Colombian senator Miguel Uribe, a potential presidential contender, remains in critical condition and has shown little response to treatment after being shot in Bogota on Saturday, the hospital treating him said on 39, is a member of the opposition right-wing Democratic Center party and was shot in the head as he was addressing a campaign event on Saturday in a public park in the capital."His condition is extremely serious," the Santa Fe Foundation hospital said in a statement. "Therefore the prognosis remains cautious."The shooting, which was caught on video, has shaken Colombia, evoking the political violence of previous comes from a prominent political family. His grandfather Julio Cesar Turbay was president from 1978 to 1982 and his mother, journalist Diana Turbay, was killed in 1991 during a rescue operation after being kidnapped by an armed group led by drug lord Pablo Escobar. He is not related to former president Alvaro Uribe, has for decades been embroiled in conflict with leftist rebels and criminal groups descended from right-wing president Gustavo Petro has vowed to bring peace, negotiating with rebel groups to get them to put down their arms, but with little on Sunday said that he had ordered additional security for government officials and opposition members in response to more threats, though the details of the threats were not is not known why Uribe, who was vying for the candidacy of his party, was attacked. He was polling well behind other party candidates at the time of the shooting. A young teen found to be carrying a 9-mm pistol was arrested after the shooting.
The Star
5 hours ago
- Politics
- The Star
Colombia's Uribe shows little response to treatment after shooting, hospital says
FILE PHOTO: A person holds a campaign poster at the area where Colombian Senator Miguel Uribe Turbay of the opposition Democratic Center party, was shot during a campaign event, in Bogota, Colombia, June 7, 2025. REUTERS/Luisa Gonzalez/File Photo
Arab Times
9 hours ago
- Politics
- Arab Times
Conservative Colombian senator in serious condition after shooting at political rally
BOGOTA, June 9, (AP): Colombian Sen Miguel Uribe Turbay, a conservative presidential hopeful, was in "serious' condition Sunday following surgery for a gunshot wound at a political rally a day earlier, Bogota's mayor said. Mayor Carlos Galán visited the Fundación Santa Fe clinic to express solidarity with the family of the 39-year-old senator. "He survived the procedure; these are critical moments and hours for his survival,' said Galán early Sunday after receiving information from the medical staff at the clinic. The hospital said Sunday that Uribe Turbay was recovering in intensive care after undergoing neurosurgery and a procedure on his left thigh. His condition was described as "extremely serious,' and his prognosis was reserved. "Miguel continues to fight hard for his life, and I ask each of you to keep praying fervently,' Uribe Turbay's wife, María Claudia Tarazona, said in a statement. Former presidents Álvaro Uribe and César Gaviria visited the clinic, along with senators, city council members and other politicians, including former senator Ingrid Betancourt. The attack took place in a park in the Fontibon neighborhood in Bogota when armed assailants shot him from behind, said the right-wing Democratic Center, which was the party of former president Uribe. The men are not related. Images circulating on social media showed a person firing several shots at the senator from behind, apparently hitting his head before he collapsed. The Attorney General's Office, which is investigating the shooting, said the senator received two gunshot wounds in the attack, which also wounded two others. Their identities and conditions have not been disclosed. The office said a 15-year-old boy was arrested at the scene with a firearm. He was injured in the leg and was recovering at another clinic, authorities said. Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez added that over 100 officers are investigating who was behind the attack. Elizabeth Dickinson, a security analyst at Crisis Group, told The Associated Press that the assault on the senator was a throwback to a time in Colombia "when violence converted into a political tool at the highest levels.' The incident has frightened Colombians, she added, because it highlights a recurring cycle of violence "even inside families that have been suffering its consequences for decades.'
USA Today
9 hours ago
- Politics
- USA Today
Colombian Senator Miguel Uribe shot at campaign event in Bogota
Julia Symmes Cobb and Lucinda Elliott Reuters BOGOTA, June 8 (Reuters) - Colombian Senator Miguel Uribe, a potential presidential contender, survived an initial operation for his injuries after being shot in Bogota on Saturday, according to his wife and the hospital treating him, although he remains in intensive care. Uribe, 39, is a member of the opposition right-wing Democratic Center party and was shot in the head during a campaign event in a public park in the Fontibon neighborhood. A boy under 15 years of age was arrested after the shooting, the attorney general's office said in a statement on Saturday, adding he was carrying a 9-millimeter Glock-type pistol. The government said it is investigating if there were other potential perpetrators. Leftist President Gustavo Petro urged an investigation into who had ordered the attack in remarks late on Saturday. Campaigning is just beginning for the country's 2026 presidential election and Uribe, who is from a prominent political family, does not have a well-known platform so far. It was unclear why he was targeted in the attack. Though he has talked about the need to improve security and about having personally suffered in the country's conflict, many other potential candidates, including others from his party, have also said steps must be taken to tackle crime. Uribe's grandfather was president from 1978 to 1982, while 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. "Miguel came out of surgery, he made it. Every hour is a critical hour. He fought his first battle, and it went well," his wife Maria Claudia Tarazona told local media on Sunday. "This will take time." The couple are parents to a young son. In a statement, the Santa Fe Foundation hospital where Uribe was treated said he had procedures on his head and his left thigh, and remained in intensive care as doctors seek to stabilize his condition. Uribe's party said in a statement that armed subjects shot him from behind. Videos on social media showed a man, identified as Uribe, being tended to after the shooting. He appeared to be bleeding from his head. Bogota's mayor, Carlos Galan, whose own presidential candidate father was assassinated in 1989, addressed journalists outside the hospital overnight, saying he had asked for increased protection for all candidates in Bogota and for Uribe's family. UNDER INVESTIGATION The Colombian government is offering some $730,000 as a reward for information in the case. "For now there is nothing more than hypothesis," Petro said, adding that failures in security protocols would also be looked into. Uribe had the bodyguard protection provided for senators and other officials. Petro sympathized with Uribe'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." People gathered outside the hospital in northern Bogota, staging candlelight vigils and praying, while others carried Colombian flags. A march of support was planned for Sunday. Several nations on Sunday including Brazil, Italy, Spain, Uruguay and Paraguay condemned the attack, as did the Venezuelan government and opposition. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement that the U.S. "condemns in the strongest possible terms the attempted assassination" of Uribe, blaming Petro's "inflammatory rhetoric" for the violence. Petro was an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump's deportation policies earlier this year, but has been less vocal since Trump threatened to impose tariffs and sanctions on the Andean country. Colombia has for decades been embroiled in a conflict between leftist rebels, criminal groups descended from right-wing paramilitaries, and the government. (Reporting by Julia Symmes Cobb and Lucinda Elliott, additional reporting by Carlos Vargas, Luisa Gonzalez, Graham Keeley, Vivian Sequera and Nelson Bocanegra, Writing by Lucinda Elliott and Julia Symmes Cobb, Editing by Christian Plumb, Michael Perry, David Holmes and Nia Williams)
