Minister Armando Benedetti says the attack on Miguel Uribe is linked to attacks in Cauca and Valle.

Interior Minister Armando Benedetti said Tuesday that the attack on Senator and presidential candidate Miguel Uribe Turbay, who was shot three times while attending a rally in Bogotá, could be related to the attacks that occurred on June 10 in Cali and other locations in Valle del Cauca and Cauca.

According to the official, this is a hypothesis that has emerged based on the evidence and details found during the investigation, although he stated that it is a version that is still under investigation.

"I'm talking about indicators that have been given to us, evidence from investigations, values ​​that are being conducted, but that are not concrete, which could suggest that whoever is planting the bombs today has something to do with Saturday's attack," the minister said.

Benedetti stated that this hypothesis has emerged within the Police, the National Intelligence Directorate, and several meetings of the Security Council, which has already held three meetings since the attack on the Democratic Center senator on June 7.

Asked by the press about who could be behind the attacks in Valle del Cauca and against Senator Miguel Uribe Turbay, Benedetti stated that the perpetrators of these attacks could be FARC dissidents and mentioned alias Iván Mordisco.

We should think about Iván Mordisco, about the dissidents, who are drug traffickers more than guerrillas.

"Well, we should consider Iván Mordisco, the dissidents, who are more drug traffickers than guerrillas, and who, in addition to that, have been working with other international drug traffickers, etc. Those are the assessments I can give you so far," he emphasized.

The Interior Minister indicated that the armed groups' objective is to frighten citizens, as well as "to counteract and corner society." He added that the attack against Uribe Turbay is only "the first link in a chain of several attacks" in Colombia.

President Gustavo Petro also addressed the possible connection between the attacks in Valle and Cauca and the assassination attempt on Miguel Uribe's life, stating that the issue will be studied at a meeting of the military leadership in Cali this Wednesday.

"I have requested a meeting of the military and police leadership in Cali (on Wednesday). I will be there. All information linking the mafia offices in the region to the attack on Senator Uribe Turbay will be studied," Petro wrote in X.

This Tuesday, Cauca and Valle del Cauca experienced a day of terror following a wave of 19 attacks that left at least 43 people injured in Cali, 10 in Jamundí, and another 10 in different municipalities of Cauca. The attacks left three people dead in Cauca, three in Jamundí, and two in Cali.

Some of the attacks occurred in:

One hypothesis is that the attacks are related to the three-year anniversary of the death of alias Mayimbú, one of the leaders of the dissidents. "These are commemorative dates that armed groups use to attack," said Germán Manrique, deputy commander of the Cali Police.

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