Miguel Uribe was hit by three shots during a public act in Bogota; A teenager was arrested as a suspect, but the authorities have not yet determined the intellectual authors of the attack
The pre-candidate for the presidency Colombian shot yesterday in Bogota, underwent a first surgery, but his health is of “maximum gravity”, the clinic where he is hospitalized on Sunday said. The 39 -year -old senator was hit by three shots, two of them in the head, during a public act in a popular neighborhood of Bogota, informed the paramedics that served him. He was admitted to a critical condition and underwent surgery at dawn.
The mayor of the capital, Carlos Fernando Galán, said that Uribe faced “critical hours” of recovery to ensure his survival. The medical center that serves the senator reported that he “is in the ICU to ensure postoperative stabilization.” “The state is of maximum severity and the prognosis is reserved.”
A 15 -year -old was arrested as a suspect, but authorities have not yet determined the intellectual authors of the attack. They were not public threats against Uribe, a vehement critic of the left, the guerrillas, and the drug trafficking groups acting in the country.
Hundreds of people manifested today in various cities, wearing white t -shirts and shaking the country’s flags. In front of the clinic where Uribe is hospitalized, I shouted “strength, Miguel!” And “Miguel, friend, Colombia is with you!” Protected by security guards, former President Álvaro Uribe (2002-2010)-leader of the Democratic Center, the country’s main right movement, to which the injured pre-candidate belongs-attended the scene. The victim’s wife thanked “all the people who joined Miguel’s life.”
Hunting for the authors
More than 100 Colombian police researchers work to clarify the reason for the attack on the politician, Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez said today. President Gustavo Petro yesterday asked a thorough investigation to start with Uribe security guards, because “all situations are open.”
The teenager accused of shooting the senator was injured in one leg during a shooting with members of the Uribe security team. He is hospitalized and “under conditions already developed,” added the Minister of Defense, who considers that the minor was “instrumentalized” by “criminals” to execute the attack.
A video released on social networks shows the moment when a young man who appears with his back draws a gun. Uribe falls after being apparently hit in the head. Other images show him lying on a vehicle, with a bloody body and supported by a group of men.
Last October, Uribe announced a presidential candidacy in 2026, in the election that will define the successor of Gustavo Petro, of whom he is one of the greatest opponents. The presidential campaign has not started yet, but several politicians have started their comics.
Divergence with the United States
International bodies and countries in the region and Europe expressed repudiation of the attack. The US State Department, a Colombian allied country in the fight against drug trafficking, attributed the attack to the “violent rhetoric of the left” and asked Petro to “moderate his incendiary speech.”
The message, issued by the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, opens a new chapter of the dispute between the United States and Petro, which called this kind of “opportunist” accusation. The president stated in a speech that it is a priority to “take care of life” of certain shots to prevent him from being murdered so as not to report his accomplices.
Uribe, a member of a family of long political tradition, has been a senator since 2022. Before, he has been secretary of government of Bogota and city councilor. He was also a candidate for the city, but lost his election in 2019. His mother, Diana Turbay, was a renowned journalist kidnapped by the order of drug trafficker Pablo Escobar. She died during a military rescue operation in 1991.
*With information from AFP
Posted by Carolina Ferreira
