Aspiring Colombian presidential contender Miguel Uribe fighting for life after being shot

Senator was hit from behind during a campaign event at a public park in Bogota

Senator Miguel Uribe was hosting a presidential campaign meeting in a public park in Bogota when he was shot. AFP

Colombian Senator Miguel Uribe, an aspiring presidential contender, was shot in Bogota on Saturday, according to the government and his party, with his wife saying he was fighting for his life in hospital.

Mr Uribe survived an initial operation but remained in intensive care, his wife Maria Claudia Tarazona said.

The senator, 39, who was hit during a campaign event as part of his run for the presidency in 2026, is a member of the opposition conservative Democratic Centre party founded by former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe. The two men are not related.

According to a party statement, the senator was hosting a campaign event in a public park in the Fontibon neighbourhood of the capital when “armed subjects shot him from behind”.

The party described the attack as serious, but did not disclose further details about Mr Uribe's condition.

His wife Maria Claudia Tarazona wrote on Mr Uribe's X account that her husband was “fighting for his life”.

Colombia's Defence Minister Pedro Sanchez said a suspect had been arrested and that authorities were investigating whether others were involved. Mr Sanchez said he had visited the hospital where Mr Uribe was being treated.

The government is offering $730,000 as a reward for information on the case.

candles the ground as people gather outside Santa Fe Foundation hospital, where Colombian Senator Miguel Uribe is being treated in Bogota. Reuters

Colombia's presidency issued a statement saying the government “categorically and forcefully” rejected the violent attack, and called for a thorough investigation.

President Gustavo Petro sympathised with the senator's family in a message on X, saying “I don't know how to ease your pain. It is the pain of a mother lost, and of a homeland”.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement that Washington “condemns in the strongest possible terms the attempted assassination” of Mr Uribe, blaming Mr Petro's “inflammatory rhetoric” for the violence.

Mr Uribe, who is not yet an official presidential candidate for his party, is from a prominent family in Colombia. His father was a businessman and union leader. His mother, journalist Diana Turbay, was kidnapped in 1990 by an armed group under the command of the late cartel leader Pablo Escobar. She was killed during a rescue operation in 1991.

Colombia has for decades been embroiled in a conflict between left-wing rebels, criminal groups descended from right-wing paramilitaries, and the government.