Colombian presidential hopeful Miguel Uribe Turbay has died two months after he was shot in the head at a rally.
Uribe, a 39-year-old conservative senator, died at a hospital in the capital, Bogota, his wife Maria Claudia Tarazona said on Monday.
‘Rest in peace, love of my life. I will take care of our children,’ his wife, María Claudia Tarazona, expressed in a heartfelt social media post confirming his passing. ‘I ask God to guide me in learning to live without you.’
Uribe suffered three gunshot wounds, including two to the head, while delivering a campaign speech in a park. He was in an intensive care unit, experiencing critical health fluctuations with brief periods of slight recovery.
Authorities arrested a 15-year-old suspect, Juan Sebastían Rodríguez Casallas, at the location of the June 7 incident in a Bogotá neighborhood. Several others have been detained in connection to the case.
Casallas apparently told authorities he was paid to shoot Uribe.
Senator Miguel Uribe Turbay died two months after he was shot in the head at a rally
Uribe Turbay is seen moments before he was shot at a campaign rally in Bogotá on Saturday
Uribe’s wife Maria Claudia Tarazona confirmed the senator died on Monday in Bogota
Last month Colombian officials named the attack’s mastermind as Elder José Arteaga Hernández, known as who ‘Chipi’ or ‘Costeño.’
However, investigators continue to probe who called for the attack and why.
During a Monday press conference, National Police director General Carlos Triana revealed that the firearm was legally purchased in Mesa, Arizona, on August 6, 2020.
Six people have been prosecuted for the attack, while a minor collaborating in the investigation escaped from a detention center.
Uribe had declared his candidacy for the 2026 presidential race and was one of the most vocal critics of leftist President Gustavo Petro in congress.
He had been warning the nation was backsliding into violence.
The shooting, captured on multiple videos, deeply unsettled Colombians, reminiscent of the political violence experienced in the 1990s when Medellín drug lord Pablo Escobar waged war against the state.
Uribe’s own mother, well-known journalist Diana Turbay, was among the victims of that period when she died during a police rescue after being kidnapped by a group of drug traffickers led by Escobar seeking to block their extradition to the United States.
Moreover Uribe’s maternal grandfather, Julio César Turbay, was president of Colombia from 1978 to 1982.
The senator, whos own mother was killed in political violence in Colombia, leaves behind his wife and two young sons
Colombian authorities arrested a 15-year-old suspect who shot Senator Miguel Uribe Turbay at presidential campaign rally
The senator leaves behind his wife and two young sons.
Uribe, a lawyer with a masters degree in public administration from Harvard University, entered politics as a councilman for Bogota when he was 26.
In 2022, he was the biggest vote-getter in the conservative Democratic Center party led by former President Alvaro Uribe.
‘Evil destroys everything,’ the ex-president, who is not related to the senator, said on social media. ‘They have killed hope. May Miguel’s struggle be a light that illuminates Colombia’s path.’
Authorities have floated several hypotheses about what led to the attack, while allies of the candidate have complained that the government ignored repeated requests to reinforce his state-provided security detail.
In the immediate aftermath of the attack, tens of thousands poured into the streets dressed in white and waving the Colombian flag to reject the violence.
Juan Sebastian Rodríguez Casallas, 15, was arrested after the shooting attack on Uribe
Secretary of State Marco Rubio was among the politicians who lamented the senator’s death.
‘The United States stands in solidarity with his family, the Colombian people, both in mourning and demanding justice for those responsible,’ he posted on X.
