Miguel Uribe, a conservative Colombian presidential hopeful, was in a critical condition on Monday after being shot in the head at close range during a rally over the weekend.
Doctors stated that the 39-year-old senator had shown “barely” any response to medical interventions, including brain surgery, following the assassination attempt, which has deeply affected the South American nation.
Mr. Uribe was shot on Saturday while addressing a small crowd in a park in Bogota’s Modelia neighborhood.
Hundreds gathered outside the hospital on Sunday where Mr. Uribe is being treated to pray for his recovery.
Some held rosaries, while others chanted slogans against President Gustavo Petro.
“This is terrible,” said Walter Jimenez, a lawyer who stood 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 when 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 exploit it for political gain.
However, some Colombians have also called on the president to moderate his rhetoric against opposition figures.
The assassination attempt has shocked the nation, with many politicians calling it a sign of deteriorating security in Colombia. The government is struggling to control violence in both rural and urban areas, despite a 2016 peace agreement with the nation’s largest rebel group.
The attack on Mr. Uribe occurs amid rising tension between Mr. Petro and the senate over stalled reforms to the nation’s labor laws.
Mr. Petro has organized pro-reform protests, delivering impassioned speeches labeling 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 reported the arrest of a 15-year-old boy at the scene of the attack against Mr. Uribe.
Social media videos show a suspect shooting at Mr. Uribe from close range.
Authorities stated that the suspect was injured in the leg and is recovering at a separate clinic.
Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez added that over 100 officers are investigating the attack.
On Monday, Colombia’s Attorney General Luz Adriana Camargo stated 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 also noted that Colombian law considers minors recruited by armed groups as victims and aims 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.
