Colombian presidential hopeful Miguel Uribe is “combating for his life” after being shot throughout a marketing campaign rally within the capital, Bogota.
The assault befell on Saturday in a park because the nation gears up for subsequent 12 months’s presidential election. Uribe, a 39-year-old senator, was shot twice – within the head and the chest, in line with Colombia’s Legal professional Normal’s Workplace.
The suspect is a 15-year-old who’s in custody.
Here’s what to know in regards to the incident and Uribe’s present standing:
What occurred on the rally?
Senator Miguel Uribe Turbay, who’s in search of to run within the 2026 presidential election, was shot from behind at a marketing campaign rally about 5pm [22:00 GMT] at El Golfito Park in Bogota’s Fontibon district.
A video verified by The New York Occasions reveals Uribe being shot in the midst of his speech. Pictures from the scene of the capturing confirmed Uribe slumped in opposition to the hood of a white automotive, smeared with blood, as a bunch of males tried to carry him and cease the bleeding.
In response to native media reviews, he was first stabilised at a close-by clinic earlier than being airlifted to the Santa Fe Basis hospital. The hospital confirmed he arrived about 8:30pm on Saturday [01:00 GMT Sunday].
A safety guard managed to detain the suspected attacker, a minor who’s believed to be 15 years previous. Nationwide Police Director Carlos Fernando Triana mentioned the suspect was injured and was receiving remedy.
Two others – a person and a lady – have been additionally wounded. However no particulars have been accessible relating to their identities.
What’s Uribe’s well being standing now?
Uribe is secure however nonetheless in vital situation after rising on Sunday from a “neurosurgical” and “peripheral vascular process”, in line with the hospital.
He “overcame the primary surgical process”, Bogota Mayor Carlos Fernando Galan instructed the media, including that he had entered “the vital hours” of restoration.
“He fought the primary battle and fought it effectively. He’s combating for his life,” Uribe’s spouse was heard saying in an audio recording shared with the media.
Who’s Miguel Uribe?
Uribe was elected as senator in 2022 beneath the conservative Democratic Centre social gathering, based by former President Alvaro Uribe, whom he isn’t associated to.
The previous president described the capturing as an assault in opposition to “a hope for the nation”.
His maternal grandfather, Julio Cesar Turbay Ayala, served as president from 1978 to 1982. He’s additionally the son of journalist Diana Turbay, who was kidnapped in 1990 by Pablo Escobar’s Medellin cartel. She died in a botched rescue operation by Colombian forces a number of months later.
Uribe has held a number of public places of work, together with Bogota Metropolis Council member (2012–2015) and authorities secretary of Bogota (2016–2018). He additionally ran for the capital’s mayor in 2019 however misplaced that election.
Who attacked Uribe?
The Legal professional Normal’s Workplace confirmed a 15-year-old boy was arrested on the scene with a “9mm Glock-type firearm”. Witnesses had additionally described seeing a younger assailant open fireplace from behind Uribe earlier than being subdued by bodyguards and civilians.
The suspect stays in custody with investigations beneath option to decide if there have been any accomplices.
What was the motive behind the capturing?
No motive has been established, and authorities mentioned there was no particular risk made in opposition to the politician earlier than the incident.
However the nation is residence to a number of armed teams, highly effective cartels and has a protracted historical past of political violence.
Within the Nineteen Eighties and Nineteen Nineties, a minimum of 5 presidential candidates have been assassinated by drug cartels, paramilitaries or political opponents.
One such case was the assassination of Luis Carlos Galan in 1989. Galan was a number one presidential candidate identified for his robust anticorruption stance and opposition to drug trafficking. He was extensively anticipated to win the presidency the next 12 months.
A 2016 settlement aimed to convey long-lasting peace to the nation by disarming rebels from the left-wing Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.
When is the following presidential election in Colombia?
Colombia’s subsequent presidential election is scheduled for Could, by which present leftist President Gustavo Petro is ineligible to run resulting from time period limits. A run-off will probably be held if wanted.
Uribe, who’s a right-wing critic of Petro, introduced his intention to run for president in March.
What are the reactions?
The assault drew robust reactions from each native and worldwide leaders.
Petro pledged an investigation.
“What issues most right now is that each one Colombians focus with the vitality of our hearts, with our will to dwell … on guaranteeing that Dr Miguel Uribe stays alive.”
In an earlier assertion, Petro condemned the violence as “an assault not solely in opposition to his individual, but in addition in opposition to democracy, freedom of thought, and the official train of politics in Colombia”.
“Respect life, that’s the crimson line. … My solidarity [is] with the Uribe household and the Turbay household. I don’t know easy methods to ease their ache,” he posted on X.
Defence Minister Pedro Sanchez mobilised army and intelligence assets and introduced a reward of three billion Colombian pesos ($730,000) for details about the capturing.
United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued an announcement saying the US condemns the assault “within the strongest potential phrases” and considers it a “direct risk to democracy”. He additionally known as on Petro to “dial again the inflammatory rhetoric” and defend officers.
Leaders throughout Latin America additionally condemned the assault.
Chilean President Gabriel Boric mentioned, “There isn’t any room or justification for violence in a democracy,” whereas Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa denounced “all types of violence and intolerance”. Each expressed solidarity with Uribe’s household.