Colombian Senator Miguel Uribe, 39, was shot in the head and leg on 7/6 while campaigning in Bogota. He was rushed to the hospital in critical condition.
While showing signs of improvement in recent weeks, doctors reported last week that he had suffered a brain hemorrhage. His wife, Maria Claudia Tarazona, confirmed his death on 11/8 after a two-month fight for his life.
"Rest in peace, the love of my life. Thank you for a life full of love," Tarazona wrote on social media.
Colombian Vice President Francia Marquez called it "a sad day for the country". She urged an end to the violence plaguing the nation, emphasizing that democracy should be built on respect and dialogue, not guns and bloodshed.
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A portrait of Miguel Uribe sits on a chair in the National Capitol building in Bogota, Colombia, on 11/8. Photo: AP |
A portrait of Miguel Uribe sits on a chair in the National Capitol building in Bogota, Colombia, on 11/8. Photo: AP
Authorities had previously arrested six suspects in connection with the attack, including the alleged shooter, a 15-year-old who was apprehended at the scene by Uribe's security detail.
Police also identified the mastermind of the attack as Elder Jose Arteaga Hernandez, alias "El Costeno". Authorities further implicated the FARC dissident group in the assassination.
The attack on Uribe, a leading candidate for the 2026 presidential election, highlights the alarming violence in Colombia.
Uribe, the nephew of former Colombian President Julio Cesar Turbay, was a senator for the opposition Democratic Center party and its prospective candidate for next year's presidential election. He received the most votes in the 2022 Senate elections.
Two days before the attack, Uribe warned that Colombia was at risk of "falling back into the cycle of violence of the past". He had been critical of the government's policy of seeking "total peace" through dialogue with armed groups and the private armies of drug traffickers.
During the height of drug cartel violence in the 1980s and 1990s, four Colombian presidential candidates were assassinated. Uribe's mother, journalist Diana Turbay, was also killed by the Medellin cartel in 1991.
Ngoc Anh (According to AFP)
