Colombian Presidential Candidate Shot During Campaign Dies

Darwin, August 12 — Colombian senator and presidential candidate Miguel Uribe has died after spending two months under medical treatment following a gunshot wound sustained during his election campaign.

Uribe, aged 39, passed away at 1:56 AM local time on Monday at the Santa Fe Foundation Hospital.

According to a report by Reuters, Uribe was shot in the head on June 7 while delivering a speech at a campaign rally in Bogotá, the capital, in hopes of securing his party’s nomination. A member of the opposition Democratic Center, Uribe came from a prominent political family. His mother, journalist Diana Turbay, was kidnapped and later killed in a failed rescue mission in 1991 by the Medellín Cartel.

Reuters reported that six people have been arrested in connection with the shooting, including a 15-year-old boy, who is believed to have fired the shot.

Police say the search for the masterminds behind the attack is ongoing. The arrested teenager claimed that he was hired by a local drug dealer to carry out the shooting.

Uribe began his political career at the age of 25, when he was elected to the Bogotá City Council. At the time, he was a vocal critic of then-Mayor and current President Gustavo Petro. In the 2022 election, he was elected to the Senate at the top of the Democratic Center’s list.

Miguel Uribe is survived by his wife, one son, two stepdaughters, father, and sister.

Party leader and former president Álvaro Uribe wrote on social media platform X:
“Evil forces have destroyed everything; they have extinguished all hope.”