Colombian Presidential Hopeful Miguel Uribe Dies Months After Campaign Rally Shooting
Colombia is mourning the loss of presidential candidate Miguel Uribe, who passed away two months after being shot during a campaign event in Bogotá. His death has stirred deep fears about a return to the country’s darker chapters of political violence.
The 39-year-old conservative senator, and grandson of former president Julio César Turbay, was struck in the head and leg on June 7 by a suspected teenage gunman. Despite showing signs of recovery, Uribe suffered a fatal brain hemorrhage over the weekend.
At a state ceremony in Congress, his widow, María Claudia Tarazona, paid tribute to her late husband, thanking his doctors and calling the act that claimed his life “the most horrific form of violence.” His body will lie in state for public viewing until Wednesday.
Police have arrested six people in connection with the attack, including the alleged shooter, caught on the spot by Uribe’s security team. Authorities also captured the suspected mastermind, Elder José Arteaga Hernández, known as “El Costeño,” and linked the assassination to a dissident faction of the defunct FARC guerrilla group.
Uribe’s killing has reopened old wounds in a nation where political assassinations once claimed the lives of four presidential candidates during the violent era of the 1980s and 1990s. Uribe himself had experienced that history firsthand — his mother, journalist Diana Turbay, was killed in a 1991 rescue operation gone wrong while being held hostage by Pablo Escobar’s Medellín cartel.
President Gustavo Petro, despite being a political rival, condemned the attack, vowing that the government must stand against violence “regardless of ideology.” Vice President Francia Márquez echoed that sentiment, stating that democracy is built through dialogue, not bullets.
Uribe, a rising figure in Colombian politics, had announced plans to run in the 2026 presidential election. His political journey began at 26 when he was elected to Bogotá’s city council, eventually becoming its youngest chairperson. He later served as a close aide to the city’s mayor, ran unsuccessfully for mayor himself in 2019, and won a Senate seat in 2022 with the highest vote count in the country, representing the Democratic Center party.
Former president Álvaro Uribe, founder of that party, mourned him as “a light that should guide Colombia’s rightful path.”
International reactions have also poured in, with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio urging justice for those responsible, expressing solidarity with Uribe’s family and the Colombian people.
Uribe leaves behind his young son and three stepdaughters, remembered not only as a politician but as a devoted father and passionate advocate for his country’s future.
