Colombian presidential candidate Miguel Uribe Turbay remains in “gravely critical” condition following a targeted shooting at a campaign rally in Bogotá’s Fontibón neighbourhood on Saturday, according to Politico.
The 39-year-old conservative senator suffered multiple gunshot wounds, including to the head and neck, during the attack by a 15-year-old suspected Sicario, or paid hitman, now in custody with a recovered 9mm Glock-style pistol.
The assassination attempt triggered immediate international condemnation, with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio branding it “a direct threat to democracy” resulting from “violent leftist rhetoric coming from the highest levels of the Colombian government.”
Rubio urged President Gustavo Petro to “dial back the inflammatory rhetoric and protect Colombian officials,” warning Colombia “can’t afford to go back to dark days of political violence.”
Domestic reactions revealed acute polarisation. President Petro expressed hope that Uribe “survives,” calling the attack a crossing of “the red line” and cancelling a foreign trip to address the crisis. Uribe’s wife, María Claudia Tarazona, confirmed he had undergone neurosurgery.
At this moment, Miguel is fighting for his life. We ask God to guide the hands of the doctors treating him.
The assault evoked Colombia’s traumatic history of political violence, drawing parallels to the 1989 murder of presidential candidate Luis Carlos Galán and the 1991 killing of Uribe’s own mother, journalist Diana Turbay, during cartel violence. Elizabeth Dickinson of Crisis Group International noted:
This is the kind of moment that feels really pivotal, and it’s frankly a very dangerous moment in Colombian politics.
Colombia’s Defence Ministry offered a COP $3 billion (USD $730,000) reward for information on the attack’s orchestrators. The incident compounds existing crises, including intensified rural armed conflict and police-targeted killings.
