Colombian senator Miguel Uribe, shot in head during election rally, dies
Colombian Senator Miguel Uribe, a potential presidential candidate for the right-wing opposition, died on Monday from injuries sustained during a June 7 shooting in Bogota. The 39-year-old was shot twice in the head at a political rally.
New Delhi: A senator in Colombia who could have become the right-wing opposition's Presidential candidate, Miguel Uribe, died on Monday. He succumbed to the injury he suffered a couple of months ago when Uribe was shot in the head at a rally.
When was he shot?
On June 7, the 39-year-old Uribe was shot twice in the head in Bogota. He has been fighting for life in the hospital since then. In July, his conditions improved slightly. But it again deteriorated over the past weekend due to a haemorrhage in his central nervous system.
On Monday, his wife, Maria Claudia Tarazona, said in an Instagram post, "You'll always be the love of my life. Thank you for a life filled with love, thank you for being a father to the girls, the best dad to Alejandro. I ask God to show me the path to learn to live without you. Rest in peace, love of my life. I will take care of our children."
Miguel Uribe and the history of assassination in his family
Miguel Uribe was born on January 28, 1986, and his mother, Diana Turbay, was a journalist who was killed in 1991 after she was kidnapped by Pablo Escobar's Medellin Cartel.
He belonged to a prominent political family in Colombia. His maternal grandfather, Julio Cesar Turbay, was the country's president from 1978 to 1982, and his paternal grandfather, Rodrigo Uribe Echavarria, was the leader of the Liberal Party.
Uribe's rise through the political ranks was swift, and he was a famous lawmaker for the Democratic Centre, a right-wing party. Touted as being the presidential candidate, he sharply criticised Leftist President Gustavo Petro and his government.
He had been slamming Petro since he was 25, when he was in the city council, and the latter was the mayor of the capital. In 2016, a 30-year-old Uribe became the youngest city government secretary, and later ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Bogota.
In the 2022 legislative elections, he led the Senate slate for the Democratic Centre party, and his slogan was "Colombia First". He became a part of the chamber and rose as a staunch critic of Petro. Uribe was in contention to become the Democratic Centre's candidate in the 2026 presidential election.
On June 7, during a rally in Bogota, Uribe was shot thrice, twice in the head and once in the knee. It happened at the El Golfito Park in the Fontibon district's Modelia neighbourhood when Uribe was meeting supporters. He was rushed to emergency medical care.