Colombian presidential candidate Miguel Uribe dies months after campaign shooting

An image of Colombian Senator Miguel Uribe Turbay of the opposition Democratic Center party is displayed, after he was shot during a campaign event, in Bogota

Colombian presidential candidate Miguel Uribe, who was critically injured in a shooting in June, has died after spending two months in intensive care and undergoing multiple surgeries, his wife confirmed on Monday. “You will always be the love of my life. Thank you for a life full of love,” Maria Claudia Tarazona wrote in an emotional Instagram post. “Rest in peace, love of my life. I will take care of our children,” she added. He had been running to be chosen as the candidate for the Democratic Center in the 2026 presidential election.

Miguel Uribe's condition had returned to critical after he suffered a new brain hemorrhage related to the assassination attempt, the clinic treating him said Saturday. On June 7, during a rally in a working-class neighborhood of the capital Bogota, the 39-year-old conservative candidate was shot three times, twice in the head. Authorities have arrested six suspects linked to the attack, including a 15-year-old alleged to have carried out the shooting, and point to a dissident group of the defunct FARC guerrilla group as possible masterminds, news agency AFP reported.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed condolences and called for accountability. “The United States stands in solidarity with his family, the Colombian people, both in mourning and demanding justice for those responsible,” Rubio posted on X.

Uribe, a father and stepfather, was shot in the head while giving a campaign speech on June 7 and underwent multiple surgeries during his subsequent hospital stay. He had shown some improvement during July, but his condition worsened over the past weekend due to a hemorrhage in his central nervous system, the hospital treating him said on Sunday.

The assassination has evoked memories of intense political violence in Colombia's past. In the 1980s and 1990s, four presidential candidates were murdered in separate attacks blamed on drug cartels allied with right-wing paramilitary death squads, according to news agency Reuters.