Colombian senator, presidential hopeful dies two months after being shot at rally

Colombian senator and presidential hopeful Miguel Uribe Turbay died Monday, two months after being shot at a political rally.

The family of Uribe, who was 39, said he died at a hospital in the capital, Bogota, after being critically wounded in a shooting in the city in June, according to the Associated Press.

“Rest in peace, love of my life. I will take care of our children,” his wife, María Claudia Tarazona, wrote in a post on Instagram. “I ask God to show me the way to learn to live without you.”

Uribe was a member of the conservative Democratic Center party and an outspoken critic of Colombian President Gustavo Petro's policies. Following the shooting, he had emergency surgery procedures performed on his head and his left thigh and remained hospitalized in intensive care until his death.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio in June described the shooting as a "direct threat to democracy and the result of the violent leftist rhetoric coming from the highest levels of the Colombian government," specifically calling out Colombian President Gustavo Petro.

Following the attack, a teenage suspect was arrested at the scene, and authorities have since detained several others. Neither the person who ordered the assassination nor their motive has been determined.

The Colombian government said has offered a reward for information leading to the capture of the perpetrators.

"Respect life, that's the red line," Petro said in a post on X in June.

While authorities have suggested several theories about what led to the attack, Uribe's allies have complained that the government ignored repeated requests to reinforce his state-provided security detail.

Uribe was a lawyer with a master's degree in public administration from Harvard University, and entered politics as a councilman for Bogota when he was 26. He received the most votes in the Democratic Center party when he was elected to the Senate in 2022.