BOGOTA, Colombia — Colombian senator and conservative presidential candidate, Miguel Uribe, was critically injured on Saturday after being shot in the head during a public rally in Bogota. The 39-year-old politician was addressing a gathering in the city’s Modelia neighborhood when the assassination attempt occurred. As of Monday, Uribe is still fighting for his life, having undergone emergency brain surgery.
Doctors have expressed concerns over Uribe’s condition, noting minimal responses to medical procedures. The incident has captured national attention and provoked a wave of empathy, as evidenced by the crowds assembled outside the hospital. Those gathered outside held rosaries and demonstrated against President Gustavo Petro, demanding political accountability.
“This feels like a return to the violence of the 1990s,” lamented Walter Jimenez, a Bogota lawyer present with a sign calling for presidential resignation. The decade referenced was marked by rampant violence from drug cartels and insurgent groups, leaving scars on Colombia’s political landscape.
President Petro has publicly denounced the attack, cautioning opponents against politicizing the tragic event. Still, various citizens have urged him to moderate his hostile discourse toward opposition figures amid soaring political tensions. The attack is perceived as symptomatic of a broader surge in insecurity despite Colombia’s peace accord with its principal insurgent faction in 2016.
Uribe’s shooting takes place amidst escalating friction between President Petro’s administration and the Senate, primarily over obstructed labor law reforms. Petro responded with rallies advocating for the changes, where he deployed incendiary rhetoric against his critics, labeling them as “oligarchs” and “the people’s foes.”
On social media, political analyst Andres Mejia critiqued Petro’s inflammatory language, holding the president partly accountable for the heightened tensions. In response to the incident, the Colombian Senate has suspended its sessions indefinitely to express solidarity with Uribe, who has been a leading voice against the current administration’s policies.
The Attorney General’s office reported the arrest of a 15-year-old suspect at the scene of the shooting. Social media footage purportedly shows the boy shooting Uribe at close quarters. While recovering from a leg injury, the accused remains under investigation by over 100 officers.
Further complicating the scenario, Attorney General Luz Adriana Camargo outlined legal parameters restricting juvenile sentencing to a maximum of eight years. The lenient penalties have, in part, facilitated the recruitment of minors by criminal organizations, a trend the Colombian judiciary is working to curtail while also recognizing such minors as victims.
Despite the alarming attack, no documented death threats against Uribe predated the incident, Colombia’s attorney general confirmed. Nevertheless, Uribe’s legal team has filed a lawsuit against the National Protection Unit for purportedly ignoring multiple security enhancement requests. Uribe, who began his presidential bid in October, allegedly had his security detail inexplicably halved on the day of the attempt, an aspect now under investigation per President Petro’s directive.
As the nation grapples with the ramifications of the attack, President Petro has taken to social media, advocating for a thorough probe into the assassination attempt and urging Colombians to maintain unity. The nation remains in the throes of speculation as the investigation continues.