The candidate for the presidency of Colombia and senator Miguel Uribe, injured by ball at the head during a public meeting in June in Bogota, died after spending two months in intensive care and undergoing several surgical interventions, announced his wife, Claudia Tarazona, on his Instagram account on Monday, August 11. The 14 -year -old shooter had reached the senator with three bullets, including one in the head. He is placed in detention and, at this stage, charged with attempted homicide and illegal weapon port with two other people suspected of complicity.
“Today is a sad day for the country”said the Colombian vice-president, Francia Marquez, in a message on the social network X. “Violence cannot continue to mark our destiny. Democracy is not built with bullets or with blood, it is built with respect, with dialogue ”she added.
After the attack, hundreds of demonstrators with white shirts and flags had paraded everywhere in Colombia, Sunday, June 8, to express their refusal of violence and their solidarity with the right -wing senator and possible candidate in the presidential election of 2026.
Mr. Uibe was a member of the Democratic Center party, the main formation of the Colombian right. This is directed by the influential Alvaro Uibe, Head of State between 2002 and 2010. The ex-president spoke of an attack on “Hope for the Fatherland”. The two men had no relationship.
The fear of a return of violence from the 1980s and 1990s
In October 2024, Senator Uibe had announced aspire to be elected president in 2026 to succeed Gustavo Petro, of which he is a keen detractor. Although the official campaign for the May 2026 election is not yet opened, several contenders have already started to defend their declared applications.
After the attack, the American secretary of state, Marco Rubio, blamed the Colombian left. “This is a direct threat to democracy and the result of the violent left rhetoric emanating from the highest levels of the Colombian government”he estimated in a press release, calling President Petro to “Moderate your incendiary rhetoric and protect Colombian public representatives”.
Miguel Uibe is the grandson of Julio Cesar Turbay, president between 1978 and 1982, and the son of Diana Turbay, recognized journalist. The latter had been kidnapped by former drug baro Escobar, before being killed during a military rescue operation in 1991. Miguel Uribe had been a senator since 2022. Previously, he was secretary of the government of Bogota and municipal councilor. He also tried to conquer the town hall in 2019, without success. The attack rekindled fears of a return from Colombia to violence in the 1980s and 1990s when political murders and attacks were common.
