Miguel Uribe Turbay, a 39-year-old Colombian presidential hopeful, was shot three times—twice in the head—during a campaign rally in Bogota on June 7. The attack happened as he spoke to a small crowd in a park. Authorities quickly arrested a 15-year-old suspect at the scene. Uribe’s wife, Maria Claudia Tarazona, asked the public to pray for his recovery, saying he was “fighting for his life” and urged faith in the doctors treating him. Supporters gathered outside the Sante Fe clinic where he was airlifted after being shot in the knee and head.
Uribe’s Centro Democratico party condemned the shooting, calling it a threat to democracy and political freedom in Colombia. The government of President Gustavo Petro described the attack as a violent assault not only on Uribe but also on the nation’s democracy. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio echoed these concerns, labeling the shooting a “direct threat to democracy.”
Coming from a well-known political family, Uribe is the grandson of former Colombian President Julio CĂ©sar Turbay Ayala and the son of a union leader and businessman. His mother, Diana Turbay, was a journalist kidnapped and killed by the MedellĂn cartel during a failed rescue in 1991. He entered the Colombian Senate in 2022 after a career in local politics and launched his presidential campaign in October 2024 at the site where his mother died. He spoke then about choosing forgiveness over revenge, saying, “I decided to do the right thing: forgive, but never forget.”
The incident has sparked shock across Colombia, highlighting the risks political figures face amid rising tensions.
