Colombian Senator Miguel Uribe, a leader of the right-wing opposition and would-be candidate for the 2026 presidential race, died on Monday, August 11, 2025, his family told Reuters. Uribe, 39, had been listed in critical condition since he was shot several times, twice in the head, at a rally in Bogotá on June 7.
The attempt on his life shook Colombia, leading to fears of the nation’s return to its violent political history. Uribe, the Democratic Center party politician, had announced publicly about six months ago that he was planning to contest the presidency.
After the June attack, Colombian police conducted an aggressive investigation that resulted in a number of arrests. In July, officials reported the arrest of five suspects, including prominently a 15-year-old suspected hitman thought to have been the gunman.
Police head Carlos Fernando Triana Beltran named suspected mastermind Elder Jose Arteaga Hernandez as the alleged plotter of the well-planned attack. “Arteaga Hernandez planned the before, the during, and the after of the attack,” Beltran said earlier. Hernandez, with a long criminal record and an Interpol file, coordinated the attack, ordered the minor to trigger the gun, and provided the weapon, the police claimed.
Colombian Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez had previously disclosed that Arteaga Hernandez allegedly brokered the murder’s execution for a figure equivalent to some $250,000, as per AFP reports.
Following the arrests, Uribe’s health continued to be severely critical after undergoing emergency surgeries. His passing is a sad loss for Colombian politics and raises anew questions regarding the safety of political leaders in the approach to the next presidential term.