Colombia’s Senator Uribe Turbay undergoes surgery after shooting attack

Colombian Senator Miguel Uribe Turbay, a potential candidate in next year’s presidential election, has successfully undergone an initial surgery after being shot and wounded in the capital, Bogota, according to its mayor.

The 39-year-old “overcame the first surgical intervention” and has entered “the critical hours” of recovery, Mayor Carlos Fernando Galan told journalists on Sunday.

The Santa Fe Foundation hospital, where he is being treated, said in a Sunday statement that he had procedures on his head and his left thigh but remained in intensive care as doctors seek to stabilize him.

Uribe was shot on Saturday during a campaign event as part of his run for the presidency in 2026. After being flown to hospital, his wife, Maria Claudia Tarazona, said on X that he was “fighting for his life”.

He is a member of the opposition conservative Democratic Centre party, founded by former President Alvaro Uribe. The two men are not related.

‘Unacceptable’ violence

The party released a statement calling the shooting “an unacceptable act of violence”.

It said the senator was appearing at a campaign event in a public park in the Fontibon neighbourhood in Bogota when “armed subjects” shot him from behind.

Videos on social media showed a man identified as Uribe  being tended to after the shooting. He appeared to be bleeding from his head.

The Attorney General’s Office, which is investigating the shooting, said the senator received two gunshot wounds in the attack, which wounded two others. The statement from the office said a 15-year-old boy was arrested at the scene with a firearm.

The government said it is offering $730,000 as a reward for information in the case.

Colombia’s presidency issued a statement saying the government “categorically and forcefully” rejected the violent attack and called for a thorough investigation.

Leftist President Gustavo Petro sympathised with the senator’s family in a message on X, saying: “Respect life, that’s the red line. … My solidarity [is] with the Uribe family and the Turbay family. I don’t know how to ease their pain.”

In a speech on Saturday night, Petro said the investigation would focus on finding who had ordered the attack.

“For now, there is nothing more than hypotheses,” Petro said, adding that failures in security protocols would also be looked into.

Global reactions

United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement that the US “condemns in the strongest possible terms the attempted assassination” of Uribe, blaming Petro’s “inflammatory rhetoric” for the violence.

Reactions also poured in from around Latin America. Chilean President Gabriel Boric said, “There is no room or justification for violence in a democracy.” Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa said, “We condemn all forms of violence and intolerance.”

Both presidents expressed solidarity with the senator’s family.

In Colombia, former President Uribe said, “They attacked the hope of the country, a great husband, father, son, brother, a great colleague.”

Uribe, who is not yet an official presidential candidate for his party, is from a prominent family in Colombia.

His father was a businessman and union leader. His mother, journalist Diana Turbay, was kidnapped in 1990 by an armed group under the command of the late cartel leader Pablo Escobar. She was killed during a rescue operation in 1991.

Colombia has for decades been embroiled in a conflict between leftist rebels, criminal groups descended from right-wing paramilitaries and the government.