Latest news with #atentado
RNZ News
10-06-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
Colombia bomb attacks rock southwest, senator still critical after shooting
By Luis Jaime Acosta and Nelson Bocanegra , Reuters People pray outside the Fundacion Santa Fe clinic, where Colombian presidential candidate Miguel Uribe is hospitalized after being shot during a political event in Bogota on 10 June, 2025. Photo: RAUL ARBOLEDA / AFP Colombia's violence took a new turn as a series of bomb attacks rocked the nation's southwest, while Senator Miguel Uribe continued fighting for his life days after being shot in the head during a campaign rally. The incidents have shaken the nation and harkened back to the decades of fear and violence residents lived under caused by armed guerrillas, paramilitary groups and drug traffickers. The explosions left at least seven people dead and more than 50 wounded, authorities said. While bomb attacks are not uncommon in Colombia, Tuesday's came on the heels of the assassination attempt on Uribe, a member of the opposition right-wing Democratic Center party and a potential presidential contender. Uribe, 39, was shot at a campaign event in a public park on Saturday in capital Bogota . He remains in critical condition, the hospital treating him said on Tuesday. "No family in Colombia should be going through this," Uribe's wife, Maria Claudia Tarazona, told reporters outside the hospital. "There is no name for this - it's not pain, it's not horror, it's not sadness." Authorities said on Monday that they were investigating several lines of inquiry in the motive for Uribe's shooting. A teen has been arrested, and President Gustavo Petro said the suspect had given his testimony to police. In a video of the teen's capture, independently verified by Reuters, he can be heard shouting that he had been hired by a local drug dealer. In an earlier video as the suspect, who had been wounded, attempted to escape the scene, a voice can be heard shouting, "I did it for the money, for my family." Reuters also verified the video. Senator Miguel Uribe. Photo: AFP/SEBASTIAN BARROS The suspect on Tuesday rejected charges of attempted murder and illegal possession of a firearm, the attorney general's office said. He faces up to eight years in a rehabilitation centre, not prison, as he is a minor. Petro has broadly pointed the finger at an international crime ring as being behind the attack on Uribe, without providing details or evidence. The explosions on Tuesday were likely caused by a guerrilla group that splintered from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels, according to the army and police. Interior Minister Armando Benedetti suggested there may be a link between the incidents, as the rebels have increasingly turned to drug trafficking to finance their activities, though he did not provide evidence. Petro has ordered beefed-up security on government officials and Opposition leaders in response to the attacks. Uribe had been a staunch critic of Petro's security strategy aimed at ending six decades of armed conflict, arguing that Petro's approach of pausing offensives on armed groups despite the failure of peace talks only backfired. The senator had two government-provided bodyguards protecting him at the time of the shooting, the head of the National Protection Unit said on Monday. Uribe's lawyer, Victor Mosquera, said he had repeatedly asked for more. - Reuters
Sky News
08-06-2025
- Politics
- Sky News
Colombian presidential candidate Miguel Uribe Turbay in 'critical condition' after shooting - as 15-year-old suspect arrested
A Colombian senator running to be the country's next president was shot and "critically" injured at a campaign rally in Bogota, authorities have said. Senator Miguel Uribe Turbay, 39, was targeted during the campaign event in a park in the Fontibon area of the Colombian capital, according to the Attorney General's office. He suffered two gunshot wounds when armed assailants shot him from behind and appeared to be bleeding from his head as he was helped by aides and people in the crowd, in a video posted on social media. According to a medical report at the Santa Fe Foundation hospital, he was admitted there in a "critical condition" and is still undergoing a "neurosurgical and peripheral vascular procedure". His wife Maria Claudia Tarazone wrote on X that he is "fighting for his life" and urged Colombians to pray for him. Two other people were injured but the nature of their injuries has not been made public. A suspect, a 15-year-old boy, was arrested at the scene with a firearm and is being treated for a leg injury, police chief General Carlos Triana said. The government is offering a $730,000 (£540,000) reward for information and President Gustavo Petro said the investigation will focus on who ordered the attack. "For now there is nothing more than hypothesis," he said, adding that failures in security protocols would also be looked into. Mr Uribe Turbay, who announced his presidential bid for the right-wing Democratic Center Party in March, was accompanied by a team of 21 people at the time of the shooting, his office said, including councilman Andres Barrios. He was hoping to run in the presidential elections taking place on 31 May next year - and succeed Mr Petro, the country's first leftist leader. His mother, who was a journalist, was kidnapped and killed in 1991 during one of the most violent periods in Colombia's history. His party described it as an "unacceptable act of violence", while US secretary of state Marco Rubio condemned it in the "strongest possible terms". Writing on X, Mr Rubio also urged Colombia's current president to "dial back the inflammatory rhetoric and protect Colombian officials". Former Colombian president Alvaro Uribe, who is not related to Mr Uribe Turbay, said the gunman had "attacked the hope of the country, a great husband, son, brother, and a great colleague". He cancelled a planned trip to France due to the "seriousness of the events", his office said in a statement. Messages of support poured in from elsewhere in Latin America, with Chilean President Gabriel Boric saying: "There is no room or justification for violence in a democracy," and Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa adding: "We condemn all forms of violence and intolerance."
Yahoo
08-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Colombia presidential hopeful shot twice in head at rally
A Colombian presidential candidate has been shot and seriously injured at a campaign event in the capital, Bogota. Miguel Uribe Turbay, 39, was hit three times - reportedly twice in the head - by a gunman while he was addressing a small crowd in a park on Saturday. Police arrested a man at the scene. Uribe is in critical condition in hospital, according to Colombian media. Uribe's Centro Democratico party condemned the attack, saying that it "endangers the life of a political leader... democracy and freedom in Colombia". Phone footage shared online appears to show the moment when he was shot in the head mid-speech, prompting those gathered to flee in panic. Paramedics said he had been shot three times, including twice in the head, AFP news agency reported. The government of left wing President Gustavo Petro said it "categorically and forcefully" condemned the attack as an "act of violence not only against his person, but also against democracy. Uribe, a well-known member of the political establishment in Colombia, announced his candidacy for next year's presidential election in October. He is the son of Diana Turbay, a journalist who was killed in 1991 in a rescue attempt after she had been kidnapped by the Medellin drugs cartel run at the time by Pablo Escobar.
BBC News
08-06-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Miguel Uribe Turbay: Colombia presidential candidate shot in head
A Colombian presidential candidate has been shot and seriously injured at a campaign event in the capital, Uribe Turbay, 39, was hit three times - reportedly twice in the head - by a gunman while he was addressing a small crowd in a park on arrested a man at the scene. Uribe is in critical condition in hospital, according to Colombian Centro Democratico party condemned the attack, saying that it "endangers the life of a political leader... democracy and freedom in Colombia". Phone footage shared online appears to show the moment when he was shot in the head mid-speech, prompting those gathered to flee in said he had been shot three times, including twice in the head, AFP news agency government of left wing President Gustavo Petro said it "categorically and forcefully" condemned the attack as an "act of violence not only against his person, but also against democracy."Uribe, a well-known member of the political establishment in Colombia, announced his candidacy for next year's presidential election in is the son of Diana Turbay, a journalist who was killed in 1991 in a rescue attempt after she had been kidnapped by the Medellin drugs cartel run at the time by Pablo Escobar.
Yahoo
08-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Presidential candidate shot and seriously wounded in Colombia, reports say
A presidential candidate in Colombia has been shot and seriously wounded at an event in Bogota, according to reports. Miguel Uribe Turbay, a senator, was in critical condition and a suspect has been arrested, the Agence France Presse news agency reported. The mayor of Bogota, Carlos Galán, was quoted by CNN as saying that Uribe was receiving emergency treatment after being attacked in the Fontibon district on Saturday. In a statement Colombia's presidential office condemned the attack. It said: 'The National Government categorically and forcefully rejects the attack that the Senator of the Republic, Miguel Uribe Turbay, was the victim of in recent hours.' Shocking video and pictures on social media appeared to show Uribe shot while addressing a crowd of people; shocked members of the public running from the scene; a man being held down on the ground by law enforcement officers; and blood smeared on the front of a vehicle. More follows …
