KEY POINTS
- Prominent Colombian Senator and presidential contender, Miguel Uribe Turbay, has died from injuries sustained in a two-month-old assassination attempt in Bogotá.
- The attack, carried out by a 14-year-old hitman, has plunged the nation into mourning and resurrected fears of political violence that recall the country’s narco-terrorism of the 1980s and 90s.
- Uribe Turbay’s death tragically echoes his family’s history, as his mother, a journalist and daughter of a former president, was also murdered in 1991 by the Medellín Cartel.
BOGOTÁ, COLOMBIA – Miguel Uribe Turbay, a prominent Colombian senator and a leading presidential contender for the 2026 election, has died after succumbing to injuries sustained in a brazen assassination attempt two months ago. His death, confirmed by his wife on Monday, August 11, has plunged the nation into a state of mourning and profound uncertainty, resurrecting the darkest specters of political violence that Colombia has fought for decades to overcome.
The 39-year-old politician, a leading figure in the right-wing Centro Democrático party, had been fighting for his life in an intensive care unit since June 7, when he was shot while delivering a public speech in the Fontibón district of Bogotá. The assassination, carried out by a 14-year-old hitman, has not only cut short the life of a rising political star but has also sent a chilling message through the country’s political establishment, evoking the bloody narco-terrorism of the 1980s and 90s. As Colombia grapples with this “incomprehensible tragedy,” a sprawling investigation is underway to unravel the conspiracy behind the murder, a crime that now threatens to destabilize the nation ahead of a crucial election cycle.
The Attack and the Agonizing Wait
The attack on June 7 was as shocking as it was public. Uribe Turbay was addressing a crowd in the Modelia neighborhood when a teenage assailant, demonstrating a chilling proficiency with a firearm, opened fire. The senator was critically wounded, and three other people were injured in the chaos. The alleged shooter, a 14-year-old with a criminal history, was apprehended just meters from the scene.
Uribe Turbay was rushed to a nearby medical center before being transferred to the prestigious Fundación Santa Fe hospital, where he would spend the next ten weeks in a desperate fight for his life. Hundreds of supporters held vigils outside the clinic as a team of surgeons worked to save him. The initial medical reports were grim. The hospital described his condition as “critical,” stating that he had required immediate neurosurgical and peripheral vascular interventions.
Over the following days and weeks, the nation was held in suspense by a series of terse medical updates. On June 8, the clinic reported that his condition was of the “utmost gravity” with a “reserved prognosis.” By June 9, there had been “scarce response” to medical interventions. A brief glimmer of hope emerged in mid-June after an emergency neurosurgery to control a brain hemorrhage, but his condition remained “extremely critical.”
After weeks of slow, painstaking recovery, a devastating setback occurred. On August 9, the hospital issued a final, ominous update: “In the last 48 hours, his clinical state has reverted to a critical condition, due to an episode of hemorrhage in the central nervous system.” Two days later, his wife, María Claudia Tarazona, confirmed his death in a heartbreaking message on the social media platform X.
“You will always be the love of my life,” she wrote. “I ask God to show me the path to learn to live without you. Our love transcends this physical plane. Wait for me, for when I fulfill my promise to our children, I will come looking for you, and we will have our second chance. Rest in peace, love of my life, I will take care of our children.”
The Investigation: A Conspiracy Unravels
The assassination has triggered a massive, multi-agency investigation to hunt down the intellectual authors of the crime. The government has offered a reward of up to 3 billion pesos (approximately $750,000) for information leading to their capture. President Gustavo Petro has vowed that “all investigation protocols, at the highest level,” are being deployed to “discover who the intellectual murderer is.”
The investigation has already yielded significant results, with six individuals now in custody. The first, and most shocking, was the 14-year-old hitman. After his immediate capture, the minor began to cooperate with authorities. He revealed that he had been contacted by a local micro-trafficking gang and offered 20 million pesos (about $5,000) for the “job.” He told investigators that the people who hired him were extremely dangerous and that he would only provide more details if they could guarantee the safety of his grandmother, his sole guardian.
His testimony led to a cascade of arrests. The second was the driver of the getaway car, a Venezuelan national named Carlos Eduardo Mora González, who was contracted for five million pesos to transport the hit team. The third was Katerine Andrea Martínez Martínez, who was apprehended in Florencia, Caquetá. One by one, three other individuals involved in the planning and logistics of the crime have been captured.
The details that have emerged paint a picture of a sophisticated criminal operation that exploited a vulnerable minor, a child whose mother is deceased and whose father reportedly emigrated to Poland to work as a mercenary in the Ukraine war. The young assassin told police he was given his instructions and the Glock 9mm pistol in a gray Chevrolet Spark by three people, who provided him with the name of his target and the escape route.
A Life Cut Short, A Legacy of Violence
Miguel Uribe Turbay was a formidable figure in Colombian politics. Born in Bogotá in 1986, he was a lawyer by training and a key figure in the Centro Democrático party, known for his staunch opposition to the current government of Gustavo Petro and his ideological alignment with former President Álvaro Uribe Vélez. He began his career as one of the youngest councilmen in Bogotá’s history, later serving as the city’s Secretary of Government, where he led initiatives on security and public order. In 2019, he ran for mayor of Bogotá, securing over 426,000 votes.
Tragically, his life and death are a devastating echo of his own family’s painful history with political violence. His mother, Diana Turbay, was a renowned journalist and the daughter of former Colombian President Julio César Turbay Ayala. In 1990, she was kidnapped by the Medellín Cartel, led by Pablo Escobar, as part of the narco-terrorists’ war against the state’s extradition policy. In January 1991, she was killed by three gunshots during a botched rescue operation. Miguel Uribe Turbay was just four years old when his mother was murdered.
Years later, he spoke publicly about the immense challenge of forgiveness. “One sees that it is much easier to talk about forgiveness than to apply it,” he said. “In our family, we forgave the unforgivable, and today I can say with complete tranquility that I have completely forgiven those who murdered my mom, because I understood that resentment and hatred only harm the one who feels it.” On the 30th anniversary of her death, he wrote, “Seeking a better future for Colombians, she was murdered by narco-trafficking. She is my greatest inspiration. From her, I learned that principles are not negotiable.”
His assassination has now added another tragic chapter to his family’s story and has reopened old wounds for a nation that has struggled for decades to escape the cycle of violence. His death leaves a profound void in Colombian politics and casts a long, dark shadow over the future of the country. As the investigation continues and the nation mourns, the question that hangs in the air is one that has haunted Colombia for generations: can it ever truly escape its past?
