Uribe’s death brought out an old ghost of Colombia: the violent murders of politicians and presidential
MANOELLA SMITH
SAO PAULO, SP (Folhapress) – Colombia Senator Miguel Uribe Turbay, 39, died after being the victim of an attack at a Bogota rally on June 7. The death was confirmed on Monday (11) by his wife in publication on social networks.
Pre-candidate for president in next year’s election, the right-wing politician was shot and was hospitalized in a serious condition in a hospital after undergoing head and leg surgeries. Since then, his health has bored, with a worsening in the picture in recent days.
On the 11th, doctors even detected signs of improvement, but days later, the politician had to undergo an emergency procedure due to an “acute intracerebral hemorrhage.” This Saturday (9), he had returned to serious state due to a new hemorrhage in the central nervous system, according to the Santa Fe de Bogota Foundation, where he was hospitalized.
Uribe’s death has brought out an old ghost of Colombia: the violent murders of politicians and presidentials that led to panic to the country’s population in the 1980s and 1990s.
The senator was even the son of journalist Diana Turbay, who was held hostage by a group linked to the Medellin cartel and killed in the attempt to rescue in 1991 – the story is reported in Gabriel García Márquez’s book “News of a kidnapping”. Uribe was the grandson of former President Julio César Turbay Ayala, who ruled Colombia from 1978 to 1982, and was part of the Democratic Center, which is led by the influential former President Álvaro Uribe (2002-2010)-despite the same last name, they were not relatives.
The attack also carries a political and symbolic weight that under pressure the current president, Gustavo Petro, the first leftist politician to govern the Colombians. Uribe was a member of the Democratic Center, the main right -wing party of the country, and a fierce critic of Petro. Opponents accuse the leftist leader of radicalizing the country.
United States Diplomacy Chief Marco Rubio lamented the senator’s death and called for justice. “The United States sympathizes with their family and the Colombian people in both mourning and demand for justice to those responsible [pela morte de Uribe]”Wrote in X.
Uribe entered politics in 2012, when elected councilor with the support of liberal leaders. His passage through the Chamber coincided with Petro’s mandate in front of Bogota, and he positioned himself as one of the main critics of the then mayor, questioning the implementation of a garbage collection program and the social policy of the municipality.
Two days before the attack, the two hit the social networks, with the president questioning his criticism. “The grandson of a former president who ordered the torture of 10,000 Colombians talking about institutional rupture?” Wrote the chief executive. The senator countered that Petro “wielded weapons and participated in a criminal group,” when referring to guerrilla M19.
Uribe has not appeared, so far, as a favorite in the presidential race. It was seen, however, as an ascending opposition, exacerbated by the attack: in early July, a month after the attack, a polling survey conducted jointly by Guarumo and Ecoanalítica showed a seventh -placed Uribe jump for the leadership of the election, with 13.7% compared to 11.7% of the second place, Vicky Dávila.
A year of the election, Colombia is experiencing a growing polarization. The government of Petro has undergone successive crises and political losses, causing him to adopt a more aggressive tone against his opponents.
The most recent defeat was the Senate veto for a popular consultation for a labor reform, one of its main campaign flags. The president reacted speaking of fraud and calling protests across the country.
Petro’s first statement after the attack generated controversy and was criticized by the opposition-in the night of Saturday itself, he made a post in which he did not even mention the name of Uribe, referring to him as “the son of an Arab woman”, alluding to her mother.
“Ah, Colombia and her eternal violence. They want to kill the son of an Arab woman in Bogota, who had already been murdered, and should not kill themselves in the heart of the world. They kill their son and mother,” wrote the president.
Former President Andrés Pastrana (1998 to 2002) accused Petro of “sowing hatred” and “inciting violence” against opposition.
The speech was reproduced by the United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who condemned “the most vehement terms” the attack and attributed it to the “violent rhetoric of the left.”
Even the current chancellor Laura Sarabia, who was once chief of staff of Petro and considered a kind of right -hand man, addressed the relationship between rhetoric and violence.
“This attack is a call to our responsibilities, commites us to work tirelessly to correct our mistakes, to broke the discourse that urges hatred ee wrath in public and private,” the minister said in a video shared on Sunday.
Petro later condemned the attack more objectively and promised to “hunt those responsible.” He also supported the acts for the end of the violence that spread across the country. But it did not fail to reject what it has classified as “attempts to political use” of the episode. “The patterns of crime repeat the patterns of the death of most political leaders of Colombia,” he said.
Since then, Colombian authorities have arrested six suspects of participating in the murder attempted, including the shooter himself, a 14 -year -old, and Elder José Arteaga Hernández, known as El Costeño and suspected of planning the attack.
The latest detainee, on July 18, was Cristian Camilo González Ardila, accused of attempted qualified murder and manufacturing, trafficking, possession or possession of firearms. According to local press, he would allegedly be responsible for killing the shooter who fired against Uribe, but fled his motorcycle before opening fire due to the commotion at the scene. The intellectual perpetrator of the crime has not yet been identified.
Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez said there are several hypotheses: one of them was a message against the Democratic Center Party. Another version is that it would be an attempt to destabilize Petro’s government. The minister also asked the episode not to be used for political purposes.
Days after the attack on Uribe, violence climbed further in the country with a series of attacks with rifles and explosives, including cars, motorcycles and bomb buses, which killed seven people in the city of Cali and in neighboring municipalities.
The Central Staff (EMC)-the main dissent of the extinct FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) and led by Iván Mordisco, the country’s most sought after criminal-operates in the region and maintains a war against Petro.
Without taking responsibility for the attacks, EMC guerrillas issued a statement guiding civilians not to approach military and police foundations.
The attacks occurred in the month of the anniversary of the death of one of the leading leaders of dissidents, Leider Johany Noscué, known as Mayimbu. He was shot in a confrontation with police in 2022.
