Colombia: Presidential candidate seriously injured by gunfire during campaign rally

The scene echoes the attempted assassination of Donald Trump last summer. Conservative Senator Miguel Uribe, a candidate for Colombia's presidency in the May 2026 election, is in "critical" condition after being shot in the head on Saturday in Bogota.

A video posted on social media shows the 39-year-old politician delivering a speech at a campaign rally in the west of the capital when gunshots rang out.

The right-wing politician was hit twice in the head and once in the knee, said the paramedics who treated him.

He was airlifted to the Santa Fe clinic in the capital, where he is "in critical condition" and is undergoing neurosurgery, the facility said. "He is fighting for his life right now," his wife posted on the elected official's X account.

According to police, the suspected perpetrator is a minor who opened fire at approximately 5:30 p.m. local time (12:30 a.m. in France). He was wounded in the leg and was overpowered by Miguel Uribe's bodyguards, police chief Carlos Fernando Triana told reporters.

Two other people, a man and a woman, were also injured and a handgun was recovered, according to police.

The motives for the attack were not immediately clear. Miguel Uribe is a member of the Democratic Center party, the main Colombian right-wing party. It is led by the influential Alvaro Uribe, who was head of state between 2002 and 2010.

The former president spoke of an attack against "a hope for the homeland." The two Uribes are not related. The government of left-wing President Gustavo Petro, for its part, "categorically and energetically denounced the attack."

In a speech Saturday evening, President Petro spoke of a "day of pain" for Colombia and promised thorough investigations to find the culprits. "What is most important today is that all Colombians focus with all their heart, with all their will to live (...) on the survival of Dr. Miguel Uribe," he added.

Senator Uribe announced in October that he aspired to be elected president in 2026 to succeed Gustavo Petro, of whom he is a strong critic .

Although the official campaign for the May 2026 election has not yet opened, several contenders have already begun to defend their declared candidacies.