Colombian presidential hopeful in critical condition after assassination attempt

People hug each other outside the clinic where Colombian senator Miguel Uribe Turbay is being treated after he was shot at a political rally (Ramon Espinosa/AP)

Miguel Uribe, a conservative Colombian presidential hopeful, was in a critical condition on Monday after being shot in the head from close range during a rally at the weekend.

In a statement, doctors said the 39-year-old senator had “barely” responded to medical interventions, which included brain surgery, following the assassination attempt that has had a chilling effect on the South American nation.

Mr Uribe was shot on Saturday as he addressed a small crowd of people who had gathered in a park in Bogota’s Modelia neighbourhood.

People hold candles as they gather outside the clinic where Colombian senator Miguel Uribe Turbay is being treated (Ivan Valencia/AP)

Hundreds of people gathered outside the hospital where Mr Uribe is being treated on Sunday to pray for his recovery.

Some carried rosaries in their hands, while others chanted slogans against President Gustavo Petro.

“This is terrible,” said Walter Jimenez, a lawyer who showed up outside the hospital, with a sign calling for Mr Petro’s removal.

“It feels like we are going back to the 1990s,” he said, referring to a decade during which drug cartels and rebel groups murdered judges, presidential candidates and journalists with impunity.

Mr Petro has condemned the attack and urged his opponents not to use it for political ends.

But some Colombians have also asked the president to tone down his rhetoric against opposition leaders.

The assassination attempt has stunned the nation, with many politicians describing it as the latest sign of how security has deteriorated in Colombia, where the government is struggling to control violence in rural and urban areas, despite a 2016 peace deal with the nation’s largest rebel group.

The attack on Mr Uribe comes amid growing animosity between Mr Petro and the senate over blocked reforms to the nation’s labour laws.

Nuns arrive to the clinic where Colombian senator Miguel Uribe Turbay is being treated (Ivan Valencia/AP)

Mr Petro has organised protests in favour of the reforms, where he has delivered fiery speeches referring to opposition leaders as “oligarchs” and “enemies of the people”.

“There is no way to argue that the president… who describes his opponents as enemies of the people, paramilitaries and assassins has no responsibility in this,” Andres Mejia, a prominent political analyst, wrote on X.

The attorney general’s office said a 15-year-old boy was arrested at the scene of the attack against Mr Uribe.

Videos captured on social media show a suspect shooting at Mr Uribe from close range.

The suspect was injured in the leg and was recovering at another clinic, authorities said.

Defence minister Pedro Sanchez added that over 100 officers are investigating the attack.

On Monday, Colombia’s attorney general Luz Adriana Camargo said that minors in Colombia face sentences of up to eight years in detention for committing murders.

Ms Camargo acknowledged that lenient sentences have encouraged armed groups to recruit minors to commit crimes.

However, she said that Colombian law also considers that minors who are recruited by armed groups are victims, and is trying to protect them.

“As a society we need to reflect on why a minor is getting caught up in a network of assassins, and what we can do to stop this from happening in the future,” she said.