BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombian authorities on Tuesday charged a 15-year-old with attempted murder for the assasination attempt on Miguel Uribe, the conservative presidential candidate who was shot in the head this weekend and is now in critical condition.
The Attorney General’s office said the teenager shot at Uribe during a rally in Bogota’s Modelia neighborhood and was captured fleeing the scene with a gun. The teenager, whose name has not been released, pleaded not guilty to the charges. He is currently recovering in a hospital from leg wounds.
Colombia’s Defense Minister said on Tuesday that authorities are still investigating who may have been behind the attack on Uribe, a 39-year-old senator and one of the nation’s most visible opposition figures.
Armed groups in Colombia frequently recruit minors for assassinations and other crimes, a practice driven by the lenient penalties they face under Colombian law. The teenager charged with attempted murder on Tuesday faces up to eight years in detention. A judge has ordered his detention at a juvenile center once he leaves hospital.
The attack on Uribe has been widely condemned in Colombia, where many voters are concerned about the country’s deteriorating security situation.
Uribe, whose maternal grandfather was a Colombian president, is the son of Diana Turbay, a prominent news anchor who was assassinated in 1991 after being kidnapped by the powerful Medellin Cartel.
Colombian opposition parties have asked for greater security guarantees in the wake of the attack, with some also urging President Gustavo Petro to moderate his rhetoric, as the nation prepares for presidential elections next year.
While Petro condemned the attack on Uribe, he often refers to opposition leaders in his speeches and social media posts as “Nazis” “oligarchs” and “enemies of the people.”
On Tuesday, Uribe’s wife María Claudia Tarazona addressed journalists outside the hospital where the senator is being treated, calling for unity and calm.
“I call on every sector, on all the political groups, on armed groups and on every corner of this country to heal,” she said, adding that Uribe “is a warrior who is fighting for his life.”
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