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08-06-2025
BOGOTA: A Colombian presidential candidate has been shot three times, reportedly twice in the head at a campaign event in the capital, Bogota.
Miguel Uribe Turbay, 39, was attacked while addressing a small crowd in a park on Saturday. Police arrested a 15-year-old suspect at the scene, local media say.
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, saying it endangered “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, media reported. He was airlifted to Sante Fe clinic where supporters have gathered outside to hold vigil.
The government of left wing President Gustavo Petro said it “categorically and forcefully” condemned the attack as an “act of violence not only against his person, but also against democracy.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also condemned the shooting as a “direct threat to democracy”.
Uribe announced his candidacy for next year’s presidential election in October.
He is from a prominent political family in Colombia, with links to the country’s Liberal Party. His father was a union leader and businessman.
His 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.
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 that took place.
Leftist President Gustavo Petro sympathised with the senator’s family in a message on X, and said: “Respect life, that’s the red line… My solidarity with the Uribe family and the Turbay family. I don’t know how to ease their pain.”
In a speech on Saturday night, Petro said that the investigation would focus on finding who had ordered the attack.
“For now, there is nothing more than hypotheses,” Petro said, adding that failures in security protocols would also be looked into.
United States 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.
In a speech on Saturday night, Petro said that the investigation would focus on finding who had ordered the attack.
“For now, there is nothing more than hypotheses,” Petro said, adding that failures in security protocols would also be looked into.
United States 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.
Reactions poured in from around Latin America. Chilean President Gabriel Boric said that “there is no room or justification for violence in a democracy” and Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa said, “We condemn all forms of violence and intolerance.”
Both presidents offered solidarity to the senator’s family.
In Colombia, former President Uribe said that “they attacked the hope of the country, a great husband, father, son, brother, a great colleague”. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
