The death of Miguel Uribe, two months after the assault towards him, marks a return to the worst interval of political violence in Colombia.
Weeks of limbo and hope for his restoration ended with the most unlucky consequence: an assassination at a time when the nation believed it had overcome the risk of demise towards presidential candidates, although the killing of social leaders has by no means been eradicated.
The assassination not solely leaves a profound affect on society, which had proven unity in rejecting the assault, however could additionally decide the course of the upcoming presidential elections. Colombia has the highest report of such political crimes in Latin America. From the period of La Violencia in the mid-Twentieth century to the wave of murders of leftist leaders and presidential candidates in the Nineteen Eighties, Colombia has lengthy skilled what has not too long ago been seen in Ecuador and Haiti.
The senator and presidential pre-candidate was attacked on June 7 in Bogotá, in broad daylight, throughout a political rally. Since then, the safety ensures for him and different presidential pre-candidates have been questioned. The reminiscences of the late Nineteen Eighties and early Nineteen Nineties have resurfaced.
Uribe, grandson of former president Julio César Turbay Ayala (1978-1982), skilled the violence of these years firsthand: his mom, journalist Diana Turbay, was kidnapped by Medellín Cartel drug traffickers beneath Pablo Escobar and killed in 1991 throughout a rescue operation. During that interval, presidential hopefuls Jaime Pardo Leal, Luis Carlos Galán, Bernardo Jaramillo Ossa, Carlos Pizarro Leongómez, and Álvaro Gómez Hurtado have been additionally killed.
Uribe was half of a era of politicians who have been youngsters of these martyred figures, akin to Bogotá Mayor Carlos Fernando Galán – son of Luis Carlos Galán – and Senator María José Pizarro, daughter of Carlos Pizarro Leongómez. His demise forces Colombia to confront its historical past of violence.
“It is the great challenge we Colombians have: either fail as a society or close the chapter on the many forms of violence the country has experienced,” says political analyst Pedro Viveros. “How is that chapter closed? By guaranteeing life to all Colombians, and the president must play a vital role in making that happen.”
President Gustavo Petro, who took a number of hours to answer the information, stated his authorities is targeted on “the protection and expansion of life” and rejected the persecution of the opposition. “Vengeance is not the way for Colombia. Decades of violence have resulted from revenge. No more,” he stated, insisting that the investigation proceed with worldwide assist and that everybody, “regardless of ideology,” deserves safety and safety.
Senator Uribe, a right-wing politician, was near former president Álvaro Uribe Vélez and a sturdy critic of the present authorities, led by Petro, the first leftist president in Colombia’s fashionable historical past. Uribe represented a younger face of the opposition. Like a number of candidates in the 1990 election, Uribe died as an opponent, and his homicide highlights cracks in the nation’s safety and the lack of safety for leaders, which was one of his marketing campaign guarantees.
Former President Uribe wrote on X that with Uribe’s demise “they killed hope.” Senator Pizarro stated, “Only with truth and justice will political violence be eradicated, the violence that has ended the life of Miguel Uribe and so many political leaders who had much to contribute to this society.”
Unlike 30 years in the past, when candidate assassinations have been frequent, it’s nonetheless unclear who ordered the assault on Uribe, although investigations level to FARC dissidents.
Uribe, who had been a candidate for mayor of Bogotá, a councilor, and Secretary of Government, had served as a senator since 2022 for the Democratic Center get together. In October 2024, at the website the place his mom was killed, he introduced his presidential bid for the 2026 elections. At that point, he stated her demise formed his life: “I could have grown up seeking revenge, but I decided to do the right thing: forgive, but never forget.”
Although Uribe was not amongst the most seen contenders at the time of the assault, his identify grew to become outstanding afterward. In a July ballot by Guarumo-Econoanalítica, Uribe led the presidential voting intention.
At the time of the assault, the nation was experiencing “political stress,” as analyst Viveros describes, as a result of President Petro’s “radicalization of the discourse” with mentions of a National Constituent Assembly, a fashionable session, or an govt decree to approve his reforms.
After the assault, the Democratic Center unified anti-Petro voices round Uribe.
“The big dilemma the Democratic Center faces is that it does not have a viable candidate,” Viveros explains. “The viable candidate was Miguel Uribe after the attack. Any future movement will depend on what the Democratic Center decides.”
“With this regrettable event, the decision over Colombia’s political future, of the anti-Petro movement or the opposition, will revolve around what the Democratic Center defines,” says Viveros. “The center of gravity for the future of the opposition is in the hands of that party.”
In 1989, after the demise of Luis Carlos Galán, César Gaviria emerged as the official candidate with the assist of Galán’s son, Juan Manuel Galán.
Today, the voices of Uribe’s spouse, María Claudia Tarazona, and get together chief Álvaro Uribe Vélez – at present beneath home arrest for a witness-tampering case – could affect the Democratic Center’s determination. The get together had deliberate a ballot in October to pick out its 2026 candidate, however has not introduced a determination since Uribe’s demise.
While it’s nonetheless unknown who ordered Uribe’s demise and the nation faces the begin of an electoral marketing campaign, his demise will likely be a focus in the debate, placing the Petro authorities’s efficiency beneath scrutiny and returning Colombia to uncertainty and worry over persistent violence. In Colombia, opponents can nonetheless be killed – regardless of political affiliation – and each the state and society face the problem of stopping it.
Today, after Uribe’s demise, overcoming that problem appears extra out of attain than ever.