Colombia bids farewell to Sen. Miguel Uribe Turbay!
Bogotá, Aug 12 (EFE).- By Paula Cabaleiro
Colombia bid farewell on Tuesday to Senator and presidential pre-candidate Miguel Uribe Turbay, who died Monday after succumbing to injuries from a June assassination attempt, in a solemn ceremony at Bogotá’s Plaza de Bolívar that silenced the usually bustling political square.
Flags outside Congress flew at half-mast as a steady stream of citizens lined up from 8:00 am to enter the National Capitol and pay respects at the coffin, draped with the Colombian flag and guarded by the Presidential Guard Battalion, police, and Bogotá city officials.
Visitors entered in groups of 15, leaving flowers, crossing themselves, or quietly reciting prayers before exiting.
“His absence is a painful blow for those of us who were his friends and shared legislative work with him. His departure leaves a void in a country that needs democrats like him,” said Attorney General Gregorio Eljach.
From assassination attempt to national farewell
Uribe Turbay, 39, was shot on Jun. 7 while speaking with supporters in Bogotá’s Modelia neighborhood.
Two bullets to the head and one to the left leg left him in critical condition for 64 days at Fundación Santa Fe hospital, where he died early Monday.
The attack, now under investigation by the Attorney General’s Office, led to six arrests and prompted widespread condemnation both in Colombia and abroad.
A rising figure in the right-wing opposition party Centro Democrático, led by former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe, to whom he was not related, Uribe Turbay’s career was widely seen as on track toward a 2026 presidential bid.
His coffin arrived at the Capitol on Monday to a military march, white handkerchief salutes, and a minute of silence. It will remain there until Wednesday noon before moving to Bogotá’s Primatial Cathedral for funeral services.
Tensions erupt amid mourning
The day’s solemnity was briefly disrupted when chants against President Gustavo Petro broke out in the queue.
As the cries of “Out with Petro!” grew louder, supporters of Petro’s Pacto Histórico party responded with shouts against former President Uribe and the slain senator, sparking verbal confrontations.
“But they’ve already killed him, leave us in peace,” some mourners replied. The standoff cooled when the crowd began chanting “Uribe, Uribe, Uribe!” and continued toward the Capitol entrance.
María Victoria Cebrián, a Bogotá resident, told EFE she came “to mourn a man who did not deserve what happened to him” and would have voted for him in 2026.
Another mourner, Luis Alfonso Castellanos, 38, said, “Uribe deserved to be here in Congress” and “would have had a place in the Casa de Nariño”, Colombia’s presidential palace, had he not been killed. EFE pc/seo
