Colombians gathered at the nation’s Congress to mourn and pay tribute to conservative Senator Miguel Uribe Turbay, who died on Monday following a difficult two-month fight for his life after he was shot by a child in June.
Uribe’s coffin arrived at the Colombian Congress on Monday night accompanied by the late Senator’s wife María Claudia Tarazona, his father Miguel Uribe Londoño, and other relatives. The coffin, covered with a Colombian national flag, was received with a funeral march and white handkerchiefs and will lie in state until noon on Wednesday, August 13, when he will be transferred to the Primatial Cathedral of Bogotá for funeral proceedings.
Noticias Caracol reported on Tuesday morning that a long line of citizens awaited outside the Plaza de Bolívar since the early morning hours to enter the Colombian Congress and pay their respects to Uribe.
The late 39-year-old senator had remained hospitalized for 64 days at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Santa Fe Foundation of Bogotá after a teen between the ages of 14 and 15 shot Uribe three times during a campaign rally at the Colombian capital, inflicting two gunshot wounds to his skull and one to his left leg. The boy, simply referred to as alias “Tianz” by Colombian outlets, pled guilty to attempted murder and illegal possession of weapons last week.
Despite the efforts of the Santa Fe Foundation’s staff, Uribe’s condition worsened over the weekend due to an episode of bleeding in the central nervous system. Uribe passed away at 01:56 a.m. (local time) on Monday.
Senator Miguel Uribe was the grandson of former Colombian President Julio César Turbay. His mother, Diana Turbay, was a journalist and daughter of the former president. She was killed in 1991 in a failed rescue attempt after late Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar ordered her kidnapping. Uribe was five years old when his mother died. The Colombian newspaper El Tiempo photographed the moment Uribe’s father Miguel Uribe Londoño approached the coffin and “stood in front of it for several minutes, staring at it in silence, conveying the weight of his grief.”
“Only God knows what this man has suffered,” Ernesto Cortés, editor-in-chief of El Tiempo, said on social media.
Uribe’s wife María Claudia Tarazona spoke with reporters on Monday at the Colombian Congress and rejected any act of violence or revenge for Uribe’s death, stressing that “to honor him, there should only be love in our hearts.”
“All of us who knew him and had the opportunity to enjoy his life and his company, his friendship, and to work with him, know that in Miguel’s heart, what he wanted for all of us Colombians is unity, peace, and love,” she said. “May human beings be held accountable for their actions toward a just country. There must be justice not only for Miguel but for all of Colombia, which deserves to live in peace.”
Miguel Uribe began his political career in 2010 and became the youngest person to occupy a local councilor position at the time, eventually becoming one of the most prominent voices of the conservative Democratic Center party led by former President Álvaro Uribe Vélez (no relation). Sen. Uribe was a longtime vocal critic of current far-left President Gustavo Petro, who Uribe publicly condemned in 2012 when Petro served as mayor of Bogotá. In 2022, Miguel Uribe obtained the most votes of any senator in that year’s elections.
Sen. Uribe was one of several Colombian presidential candidates ahead of the 2026 elections and had soft-launched his campaign in October. Polls released in July, roughly a month after he was shot, revealed that he was the frontrunner in a group of roughly 20 other hopefuls. El Tiempo summarized that Uribe had centered his prospective campaign around three proposals: boosting Colombia’s economy, healthcare for Colombian families, and strengthening the nation’s security.
“I forgave everyone involved [in Diana Turbay’s death], including [Colombian Hitman Jhon Jairo Velásquez] Popeye and others,” Sen. Uribe once said during an interview. “First, I understood that it was already in the past, that nothing I did would bring my mom back, and instead, forgiving would enrich me as a person and allow me to live without burden.”
“I understood that reconciliation is the only thing that helps one take the step and overcome such a difficult moment,” he concluded.
The Argentine outlet Infobae pointed out that the Elliptical Hall of the Colombian Capitol, where Uribe’s coffin presently lies in state, is the same place where two of his grandparents were honored when they passed away. His grandfather, late Colombian President Julio César Turbay, passed away in 2005. His grandmother, late first lady Nydia Quintero, passed away on June 30, 2025, weeks after Sen. Uribe was shot.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
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