Colombian presidential candidate Miguel Uribe Turbay is fighting for his life after being shot three times, twice in the head, during a campaign rally in the capital, Bogota.
The 39-year-old politician was addressing a small crowd in a local park on Saturday when the shooting occurred. Footage shared online captured the horrifying moment Uribe was struck mid-speech, sending attendees fleeing in panic. According to local media, a 15-year-old suspect was apprehended by police at the scene.
Paramedics said Uribe had sustained gunshot wounds to the knee and head. He was airlifted to the Sante Fe clinic, where supporters have since gathered to hold a vigil.
His wife, Maria Claudia Tarazona, urged Colombians to pray for his recovery. “Miguel is currently fighting for his life. Let us ask God to guide the hands of the doctors who are treating him,” she said.
Uribe’s political party, Centro Democratico, strongly condemned the attack, describing it as a grave threat to “democracy and freedom in Colombia.” The left-wing government of President Gustavo Petro echoed that sentiment, denouncing the shooting as “an act of violence not only against his person, but also against democracy.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also reacted to the incident, calling it a “direct threat to democracy.”
Uribe, who announced his bid for Colombia’s presidency in October, comes from a prominent political lineage. His father was a union leader and businessman, while his mother, journalist Diana Turbay, was tragically killed in 1991 during a failed rescue mission after being kidnapped by the Medellín drugs cartel, then led by Pablo Escobar.
No motive for the attack has yet been confirmed.
Follow us on:
