Miguel Uribe Turbay, a leading opposition presidential candidate in Colombia, died from aftereffects two months after being shot by a 14-year-old boy on the 11th (local time). Experts noted that this incident symbolically shows how the complex wounds left by over half a century of civil war and the 'war on drugs' are holding back the current and future of a country.
On the 11th (local time), Spain's largest Spanish-language media outlet, El País, reported Uribe's death at the age of 39, stating that "beyond the tragedy of a promising politician, it is deeply intertwined with the structural issues deeply rooted in Colombian society, the corrupt political system, and inherited personal pain."
Uribe, a member of the conservative-centered Democratic Center party who had announced his candidacy for next year's presidential election, was known for advocating a tough response to drug cartels. He was shot while giving a campaign speech in a park in Colombia's capital, Bogotá, on June 7. The shooter, a 14-year-old boy, fired two shots at Uribe's head and one in his knee using a gun smuggled from the United States. Local investigative authorities are conducting an investigation, suspecting that drug trafficking forces hired the teenager to carry out the crime.
Colombian experts believe that the sources of violence currently threatening the nation stem from two main areas. First, Colombia has 'child assassins' (sicarios) that are hard to find in other countries. The notorious 'drug lord' Pablo Escobar in the 1980s lured marginalized or desperate youths into crime, using them as cheap disposable resources. For children growing up in poor neighborhoods (comunas) on the outskirts of Medellín or Bogotá, the sicarios, dressed well and riding motorcycles while shooting guns, became objects of both fear and admiration. Amid extreme poverty and social inequality, new sicarios keep emerging. The individual who shot Uribe was also a 14-year-old sicario. The local media outlet One stated that this "shows how tragically the national social safety net has collapsed" and that "youths' distorted desires to prove their existence through family livelihoods or violence are exploited by criminal organizations."
Another branch is the 'assassin mercenaries' from the regular army. In the 2000s, Colombia received billions of dollars from the United States under the pretext of training regular troops with drug eradication capabilities. They accumulated special operations experience across jungles and cities and secured world-class abilities for counterinsurgency. However, the pay provided by the Colombian military was woefully inadequate compared to their skills and training intensity. After retiring, there were few job opportunities in Colombian society for them. Ultimately, the elite forces trained in large numbers sold their lethal skills to domestic and international criminal organizations or private military companies (PMCs).
During the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse in 2021, over 20 key personnel who infiltrated the presidential residence to execute the operation were from Colombian special forces. Furthermore, following the investigation into the assassination of Fernando Villavicencio, a leading candidate in the 2023 Ecuadorian presidential election, it was revealed that Ecuadorian police stated, "All executioners directly involved in the assassination were Colombian nationals." This implies that the military power accumulated for national security has been used in targeted assassination cases, causing the regular army itself to devolve into a means of spreading violence.
The family history intertwined with this incident adds depth to the tragedy. Uribe's mother was journalist Diana Turbay, who left a significant mark on Colombian society in the 1990s. She was abducted in 1991 after falling into a trap set by the cartel while persistently pursuing the crimes committed by Pablo Escobar. Subsequently, Diana died during a shootout while the Colombian government was ineptly conducting a rescue operation.
This tragedy has repeated itself in the same way for his son after 34 years. Colombian society is experiencing immense shock and sorrow over the deaths of the Uribes. The British Guardian noted this as "an example of how even elite families are powerless in the face of the immense violence of the Colombian drug cartels." It further added that "it starkly reveals how unresolved past wounds can consume the present."
Amid the crisis of the assassination of an opposition presidential candidate, Colombian politics remains at a loss. The current administration, led by the first leftist president Gustavo Petro, has pointed to an 'international crime syndicate' as the mastermind behind the incident. It claims that multiple associated criminal organizations colluded to plan the assassination on an international scale. However, the Colombian government reportedly ignored Uribe's requests to strengthen security personnel 25 times, citing threats to his safety months before the shooting. It has also been revealed that on the day of the incident, the number of security personnel was reduced from seven to three. Suspicions are spreading that the government may have deliberately turned a blind eye to the safety of political opposition forces.
Experts expressed concern that Uribe's death could lead to further political retaliation or empower populists advocating extreme security policies. Colombia has already seen a surge in violent crimes such as murder and kidnapping over the past decade. In 2016, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos signed a peace agreement with the largest guerrilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), for which he won the Nobel Peace Prize. However, no proper follow-up measures were implemented in the wake of the guerrillas' disappearance. The resulting 'power vacuum' has been exploited by emerging criminal organizations that are difficult to track. According to the nonprofit human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW), homicide rates in Colombia increased by 20.9% and kidnappings by 34.8% from 2016 up until last year. HRW stated that "the promises made after a peace agreement paid for at an astronomical social expense have not been kept, allowing new forms of violence to fill the void."