A Colombian presidential candidate, Miguel Uribe Turbay, is in critical condition after being shot three times—reportedly twice in the head—during a campaign event in the capital, Bogotá.
Uribe, 39, was addressing a small crowd in a park on Saturday when the attack occurred. According to local media, police swiftly arrested a 15-year-old suspect at the scene.
His wife, Maria Claudia Tarazona, urged Colombians to pray for her husband’s 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.
According to the BBC, the attack has drawn sharp condemnation from Uribe’s Centro Democrático party, which described it as a threat to the country’s democratic values, stating it endangered “democracy and freedom in Colombia”.
Footage captured on a mobile phone and shared online appears to show the moment Uribe was shot mid-speech, sending attendees fleeing in panic.
Paramedics confirmed he sustained a gunshot wound to the knee and two to the head, according to AFP. He was airlifted to Santa Fe Clinic, where supporters have since gathered outside to keep vigil.
The government of President Gustavo Petro also issued a strong statement, condemning the shooting “categorically and forcefully” as an “act of violence not only against his person, but also against democracy.”
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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio echoed the sentiment, calling the incident a “direct threat to democracy”.
Uribe, a member of a well-known political family, had declared his intention to run for president in the 2026 election last October.
He has longstanding ties to Colombia’s Liberal Party, and his family has deep roots in the nation’s political and social history.
His father was a union leader and businessman, while his mother, journalist Diana Turbay, was killed in 1991 during a failed rescue operation after being kidnapped by Pablo Escobar’s Medellín cartel.
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