JUST IN: Colombian Presidential Hopeful Dies After Campaign Rally Shooting

Colombian senator and presidential hopeful Miguel Uribe Turbay has died, two months after being shot in the head during a campaign event in Bogotá.

His wife, María Claudia Tarazona, confirmed his death on Monday, August 11, through a heartfelt social media post.

Uribe Turbay, 39, was a member of the right-wing opposition party Centro Democrático.

He had been considered one of the rising political figures in Colombia and a strong contender for the 2026 presidential election.

On June 7, he was critically wounded when a gunman opened fire at a rally in the capital.

Doctors at the Santa Fe de Bogotá Foundation Hospital had kept Uribe under intensive care since the attack.

Over the weekend, the hospital reported that he had suffered a “hemorrhagic episode in the central nervous system” and was in critical condition.

Despite efforts to stabilize him, his condition deteriorated.

Former president Iván Duque, who led Colombia from 2018 to 2022, called Uribe “an upright and transparent leader” and blamed “terrorism” for his death.

“Colombia mourns, but it will not surrender to the criminals who took the life of an admirable young man,” Duque said.

Álvaro Uribe, another former president and founder of the Centro Democrático party  though unrelated to the late senator expressed deep sorrow, saying, “Evil destroys everything; they killed hope.

May Miguel’s struggle be a light that illuminates the right path for Colombia.”

Authorities have arrested six suspects in connection with the shooting, including a 15-year-old boy accused of attempted homicide.

Prosecutors allege the teenager was involved in a hitman network. All defendants have pleaded not guilty.

The assassination has evoked painful memories of Colombia’s history of political violence. Uribe came from a well-known political family.

His mother, journalist Diana Turbay, was kidnapped by Pablo Escobar’s Medellín cartel in 1990 and killed during a failed rescue attempt in 1991. His grandfather, Julio César Turbay Ayala, served as president from 1978 to 1982.

A Harvard graduate, Uribe began his political career in Bogotá’s local government before winning a Senate seat in 2022.

Last year, at the site where his mother was killed, he announced his presidential bid, declaring, “I could have grown up seeking revenge, but I decided to do the right thing: forgive, but never forget.”

Uribe’s death has shocked the nation and intensified concerns about the safety of political candidates ahead of Colombia’s 2026 elections.

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